Battle of the Masters: Ancient Shadows
by Shadou-sama
Summary: A mysterious boy transfers to Tokujin Boarding School, one with a deep world-destruction dark secret. Who? Ryou Bakura. If Ryou's father thought this school would restrain him, he is sadly, sadly, mistaken.
1. Stealing the Counsellor's Trix

**Battle of the Masters: Ancient Shadows   
**Chapter One - Stealing the Counsellor's Trix

_by Shadou-sama_

__

_It doesn't look too bad,_ Balla said. _So stop looking like your cat died._

"Otherwise she wouldn't be sitting here while she ordering me around," Shadra said. Balla spun around on Shadra's lap to look up at the black-haired girl. 

__

_Hmph,_ Balla said. 

Shadra could compare her cat to one of those English professors very easily. She supposed that it had something to do with what Shadra could envision as an authority figure. More so than her own mother. 

She stretched her newly healed arm. Her powers were getting stronger. Well, at least now she could heal. 

Which was why she was here. Tokujin Boarding School of Tokyo, Japan, was her mother's idea. A boarding school close by to her mother's hospital. Shadra didn't see why she had to uproot her entire life just so some dying woman who claimed to be her mother could have a chance to get to know her. Feh, that woman had had fifteen years to get to know her. And it was way too late to get to know her twin. 

"I guess on the bright side, at least I don't have to live with that woman," Shadra said. 

__

_That would bring It out of you, wouldn't it,_ Balla said. 

"Maybe she's just some lousy gold digger," Shadra said, ignoring her cat. "I became a famous beyblader, joined the World Champion team, so now it's worth it to get to know me." 

"Why wouldn't it be worth it?" a voice asked. 

Shadra and Balla visibly jumped, the black cat falling off her lap in the process. She looked over to find a white-haired boy sitting next to her. His skin was pale like a vampire's (except his was more white than grey) and his doe-like brown eyes immediately drew one's attention. 

"Sorry," he said. How much more kawaii can this guy get? Shadra wondered. 

"Were you there…" Shadra began asking, completely mortified. Talking to your cat (especially since only four people alive could understand her), in public like your cat was actually answering was… well, it was very embarrassing. "Long?" 

"No," the boy said as Balla hopped back onto Shadra's lap. "I just managed to find the main office." 

Shadra noticed the British accent, even through the Japanese. A fellow countryman. 

"I'm new," the boy explained. 

"Me, too." 

"Bakura Ryou," the boy said. 

Now she was confused. Was it Japanese style or English? And would he consider it rude if she called him by his first name? One thing she had learned in Japan was to call people by their first name, unless otherwise told. 

"Um… Which is your first name?" she asked meekly. 

"Please, call me Ryou," he said. 

"Okay, monsieur Ryou, I'm Shadra Bellona. I mean, Bellona Shadra," she quickly corrected herself. "Sorry, it's my first time in Japan alone." 

"You speak Japanese wonderfully, though," Ryou commented. 

"Always pays to have Japanese friends," she said. 

"Sorry for the wait," the guidance counsellor said at her office door. She didn't say it seriously like most counsellors Shadra had met would have, but more lightly. Sort of like she actually liked her job. Strange. 

AND WHY THE HECK WAS SHADRA ALWAYS SENT TO THE GUIDANCE COUNSELLOR FIRST? 

Oi, she thought. She must be some psychopath. But then why was Ryou there too? He didn't seem to be mentally disturbed. Maybe in Japan it was customary to visit the guidance counsellor first. 

* * *

Misonimi Chiaka watched as Tokujin's newest students walked into her office, already back behind her desk. Their luggage was left in the waiting room. 

The black haired girl must be Bellona Shadra, transfer student from Great Britain. Barely in the country for a day and already breaking the rules. Cats were definitely not allowed, only goldfish. Shadra was quickly becoming famous in the school. The teachers had read her permanent report, and then the other students had overheard them talking about it. She'd have a tough time fitting in. 

Her test scores were very random. In some areas, such as History, she scored high. But in others, like in the computer class, she scored very low. Chiaka even knew of a teacher who refused to let her be around any technology at all. 

Chiaka decided that she'd have to keep an eye on the English girl. At least try to find out why her record was nearly black with misdemeanours. And that was only from her last school year. Her last guidance counsellor hadn't been able to figure it out, she seemed a happy enough girl. 

Bakura Ryou was a different story. His record was as clean as a whistle. Although, some of his teachers expressed concerns over his frequent transfers and bruises and lacerations. But, they didn't report it as it seemed that the injuries were the result of bullies. Apparently, he wasn't very good at defending himself. 

His test scores were more level than the girl's, and he was praised by many of his teachers. 

He could steal her Trix any day. Oh! Did she just think that? He was a student, and she was way too old for him! Well, only maybe seven years… ack! She really had to stop this. Oh why did he have to look so cute? 

"Ah, Miss? Are you okay?" Ryou asked. 

She suddenly realised that both new students were seated and had been for a few minutes. And they'd been silently watching her blush, having no clue why. Hopefully. She laughed nervously. 

"Yep," she said. "I'm Misonimi Chiaka. Please call me Chiaka-san." 

Shadra looked relieved. 

"Welcome to Tokujin." 

Chiaka leaned forward in her chair, flustered. What came next in the welcoming speech? Oh darn, for the first time in two years she had forgotten it. That would be put on her memory shelf next to her first less than clean thoughts about a student. Aren't firsts supposed to be a good thing? 

"Uh… if you have any problems, just come and talk to me," Chiaka said. "And you already know where my office is, since you're here." 

Okay, so she wasn't the best counsellor in the world. She had thought she was pretty darn close until four minutes ago. Why were they staring at her? She could understand looking, but staring? 

They must know how horrible she is and are waiting for her next screw up. 

"Umm… Schedules! Class schedules," she said, calming down a bit. 

"Are you sure you're okay?" Shadra asked. 

"Yes, perfectly," she said as she handed them a piece of paper each. "This is very important, so don't lose it. It includes your class schedule, your login and password for the school computers, and your dorm room number." 

Chiaka, after spying the books under her desk (don't ask), also handed them to them. "This agenda is the other important thing. Do not lose it! You have to pay a twenty dollar fine if you do." 

But why would any student lose it? It was rather cool looking, unlike her old school's dorky agendas. These kids no a days have no appreciation—oh gawd, she was turning old too. Pedophile and ancient. Joy. 

"This list the school rules and policies. There's a section in the back to help with assignments and even a handy dandy calendar to keep track of your homework in!" 

The new students did not look impressed, although Ryou tried to hide it. 

"Or whatever," Chiaka said. Oh boy, wasn't she the geek. Pointing out the school related sections first and completely forgetting the best part of it. "It has a map of the school and grounds." 

She saw Shadra perk up at that. Chiaka decided Shadra would probably be the one late for class because she'd have got lost. She suspected Ryou was used to finding his way through a new school, and so would be more adept at it. 

"Well, I guess that's it. Your uniforms and textbooks should be in your dorm rooms. You shouldn't have any trouble finding them. Your dorm house is just down the hall, up a staircase or two… It's really close by." Chiaka was about to let them go free until she noticed Balla. "Sorry, no pets any bigger than a goldfish," she said. 

"B—but where will she go?" Shadra asked, hugging her cat until it hissed, clearly disapproving. Something passed over her expression, an emotion that Chiaka could not label, then she let her black cat down onto the floor. Perhaps this was what set off her delinquent behavior? 

"To your—" Oh, right. How could she have forgotten? Her mother was permanately in the hospital. The woman had sold off any other residence that she had had. Shadra's only home was Tokujin. "Maybe we can get special permission, just this once." 

Shadra nodded, smiling. 

"Okay, go on to your dorm rooms. Classes start tomorrow, you know." 

They complied, saying their goodbyes and grabbing up their luggage. 

Classes start tomorrow? Record your homework? Chiaka sighed. If she had known being a guidance counsellor was going to make her this fuddy-duddy, she would have become a festival acrobat. 

* * *

Ryou and Shadra walked together to their dorm house. Chiaka-san had been right, it was close. Shadra waved goodbye as they stopped at her floor, presumably filled with all girl neighbours. 

Ryou's was on the next floor. He started the climb up. 

A nice kid, Ryou thought. Except for talking to her self. 

/And you played the perfect gentlemen. / Bakura, Ryou's Yami, broke in. Ryou was pretty sure it wasn't a compliment. 

Ryou started sighing mentally, then caught himself. Bakura could hear it through their mental link. And apparently, he could listen into Ryou's thoughts. 

What else could I have done?Ryou responded. He was pretty sure his Yami could come up with a great snide answer. Never mind. 

/I'm bored,/ his Yami complained. 

Ryou knew what the meant. At least let me set these in the room. 

Bakura took half a minute to mull it over. Ryou took the opportunity to get up the flight of stairs and into the hallway. Unfortunately, his room was opposite of him. He ran for it, not noticing his new neighbour coming out of his room. 

WHAM! Ryou bounced back onto the floor. The other guy fell back into a wall. 

"Watch it," Bakura growled. 

"What? Me? You were the one—" 

The blonde boy was cut off by Bakura's glare. With a meek, "Fine, whatever," the boy moved past the white haired teen and hurriedly continued on his way. 

Shadra finished unpacking her things, which wasn't much. After being on the road all summer, not being too well off before (her ex-sponsor's gift of designer clothes had mysteriously disappeared), had left her with few possessions. 

She flopped back onto her bed, admiring her new room. No roommates, and no crappy cracked walls. This was totally better than her last dorm room. Though, she did miss her ex-roommate just a little. 

Her new textbooks (including a pair of computer books she didn't even want to think about) were piled neatly on the desk opposite the bed, and a closet instead of a bureau. There was room for customisation, as she had learned from her agenda, but only to a certain point. Her old school was better in that respect. Some students had gone so far as to actually tear down walls. 

__

_I sense an evil spirit nearby,_ Balla said as she jumped up onto the bed. 

Shadra groaned. "Stake or knife?" 

__

_Stake,_ the kitty decided on. 

"Goody," she said sarcastically, jumping up. She grabbed her favourite stake, named Mr. Pointy after Buffy the Vampire Slayer's stake, grabbed her shoes and a jacket. 

Balla didn't bother following her out of the room. She liked to think that the Master of Time, the fourth foundation of the Earth, could handle a simple undead creature. 

Shadra was out into the stairwell. If every night was comparable to this night, than Shadra would be one busy bee. Tokyo, as one of the largest cities in the world, probably had no shortage of demons. Perfect. 

"Ahem." 

Shadra spun around, nearly falling over because she was on a step, stashing Mr. Pointy into her pocket. 

"Oh, just you," Shadra sighed in relief as the vision of Ryou. She had been afraid it was the vampire, or, shudder, a teacher. Last thing she needed was to be given detention on her first day. Not that she knew whether sneaking out at night was a punishable offence. 

"And where are you going?" Ryou asked. Shadra frowned. He was acting kind of sinister. Not like he was when she had talked to him. But how well did she actually know him? She'd only just met him today. 

"Out," Shadra said. 

In one quick fluid movement, Ryou (or Bakura, since he wasn't being so friendly. Only friends call each other by their first name) grabbed the wooden stake out of her pocket and back outside her reach. He held it up, his eyebrow raised. 

"It's uh… wooden stick," Shadra said. She really wasn't used to lying. No one cared at her last school. 

"Taking your pet stick out for a walk," Bakura said. "I knew you were a loony." He laughed. 

He had heard! And he had pretended that he hadn't! That… That… 

"I have better things to do then be here with you," Bakura said, closing his eyes and walking past her down the stairs. He tossed the stake over his shoulder and it clattered onto the ground. She slowly kneeled to get it. By then, Bakura was gone. And good riddance, Shadra thought. 

__

_To be continued..._


	2. And Guys Think Girls Are Confusing?

Battle of the Masters: Ancient Shadows   
Chapter Two - And Guys Think Girls Are Confusing?

**by Shadou-sama**

"Stupid boy, seeming so nice, then turning into a idiot loser!" Shadra ranted in English. She kicked the opposing vampire hard in the stomach, sending him flying a few feet away in the dark alley. 

"Being all bipolar on me!" The vampire leapt to his feet and came at her again, landing a hit on her shoulder. She turned, flowing with the blow and reducing the damage. 

"Calling me crazy! Why don't you crawl under a rock, Bakura-kun!" She swung her fist with all her might against her opponent. 

The vampire dodged backwards and stopped, a confused look on his face. "Uh… My name's Dave." 

"Bakura, looking so kawaii—Your name's Dave? Isn't that a bit… not Japanese?" She stopped her attack. 

"I'm visiting from the States," Dave said, as he lunged at her again. She dodged, and kicked him in the back. But with vampire strength, he regained his balance easily. "A sort of honeymoon with my girlfriend. New sights, exotic food." He motioned the brown-haired girl cowering behind a dumpster. 

"Aw, that's nice," Shadra said. "Wish I had a boyfriend who took me places." They continued exchanging blows. 

"Well, what about this Bakura?" 

"_Him_?" her eyes widened in disgust. Dave took the opportunity to slash her across her upper arm, tearing through fabric and drawing blood. 

"You said he was kawaii. That's cute, right?" 

"Yeah. And he seemed all nice too for the first hour I knew him. Then…" 

"He was a bastard. But that's probably only because he realised he had feelings for you and didn't know how to deal with them." 

She looked questioningly at him. 

"I was a psychologist when I was alive," Dave explained. 

"The other girls will be all over him," Shadra said, stopping the fight. "I've done that before. It usually ends up with a lot of hate web sites with ugly 'Die-Shadra-Die' pictures on them." 

"Excuse me?" the cowering girl asked in Japanese. "Maybe a little less chatting and a little more killing?" 

"Sorry," Shadra said. She lunged at Dave, stake going for the heart. He spun so it struck his left shoulder. 

"Well, it's nice to know there's one Slayer around here," Dave said. "It keeps things interesting." 

Shadra stopped again, unconsciously deciding not to tell him she wasn't a slayer. "There's no Slayers here?" 

"Nah," Dave said. "Kind of disappointing since Tokyo Slayers are famous for their martial arts skills." 

"That's odd…"

* * *

Ryou's eyes snapped open as his alarm went off. He sat up quickly and turned it off. He looked blearily around the room, not recognising it. But as he gradually woke up, he realised that he must be in his new dorm room. Yeah, his luggage was beside the door. 

That was strange… He remembered Bakura taking over before he could even reach the room. But why would his Yami bother to bring his luggage in? He checked on his dark's emotions, and found him asleep. So, it was safe to think that his Yami was changing.

* * *

Shadra stared at the computer. The computer stared at Shadra. Needless to say, computer class wasn't going all too well. 

Shadra decided to glare at the computer. The computer might've returned it, except it wasn't even turned on. 

The entire lab was humming, with students surfing around the net. So, everyone else was getting something out of the course, except her. Maybe by the end of the year, she might even be able to login. Dare to dream. 

Well, what's the worst that could happen? She asked herself. She pressed the power button. 

For a second, the computer didn't do anything. Shadra peered closer at it. It made a strange high whine. Her eyes widened. She knew what that meant. 

She desperately tried to move backwards, but seeing as she was sitting in a chair, all that managed was to tip the chair open. The computer made an even higher whining sound, if that was even possible. She rolled off the chair and held it up as a shield. 

_KA-BOOM! _

The computer sent off thousands of sparks. 

Shadra anxiously peered over her chair shield. The moni—the thing that the stuff should up on had a cracked window thingy. The case for the hard drive dealie had broken into pieces, showing off burnt chips. The mouse had disappeared somewhere. And oh yeah, the teacher was going berserk. The great thing about being a Time Master. 

"Oh my," a voice said behind her. 

She looked up and saw Bakura leaning across the long computer table behind her. 

"What did you do!" The teacher practically screamed as he came running up. 

Shadra set down the chair, and looked up meekly. "I just turned it on, sir." 

"You must have done more than that to make it explode!" 

"It's true, sir," Bakura said. 

The teacher turned his angry wrath upon the white-haired boy. Bakura shrank back. 

Shadra's full attention was on him as well. He was sticking up for her? After how mean he was yesterday? He had called her a loony. He just didn't realise the magic in this world, including Balla's psychic speech. But did that give him any right to say so? No. She decided he was a Ryou now. 

She turned her attention to the teacher. "I do have a terrible relationship with them," Shadra said, motioning the technology. She realised that the entire class were staring at the trio. And why not? Computers didn't explode everyday (unless she was around). "It says so in my permanent record." 

The teacher didn't look impressed, but his wrathful expression had dimmed. 

"I'll tutor her," Ryou offered. "So it won't happen again." 

Yep, he was definitely a Ryou. Unless he was doing it to punish her later… She frowned and exhaled. She didn't like thinking such prejudices but she had learned a while ago that no one was what they seemed, and it usually turned out badly for her. 

The teacher looked undecided, fingering the pink slips in his jacket pocket. Her eyes widened a fraction. 

"Yeah!" she jumped in. "And I'll work extra hard and everything!" 

He took a few minutes to think about it, his eyes rolled to the ceiling. "Fine," he said. "But—" 

"If I cross out of line, it's through," Shadra finished. How many times had she heard that sentence? 

The bell rang before the teacher could give retribute to her interruption. Phew, dodged another bullet. The way things were going, she wasn't make a very good impression. Though it was still better than last year. She shuddered mentally. First night she was there, she had made an arch nemesis out of the most powerful boy in the world. Eventually though, they had become friends. 

She didn't notice Ryou coming around the long table, under he had grabbed her upper arm and hand to help her up. She winced. 

A flash of recognition across Ryou's face. But in half a heart beat it had disappeared. Shadra wasn't even sure it had been there. 

She tugged her useless skirt down. Stupid boarding schools… Why must they all have uniforms? And why must they try to make her wear a skirt? Shadra had to admit she was jealous of the guy's plain navy blue uniform. 

"So, today after classes?" he asked as soon as had said thank you. 

"For what?" Shadra asked as they walked out of the classroom. 

"Tutoring." 

"You were serious?" 

"Yes." 

"But—" 

"Don't worry, it's easy to pick up." 

Shadra seriously doubted that. If it was so easy, then her two friends, computer geniuses each, should have been able to teach her. But let him dream in his non-magical world.

* * *

Ryou leaned back in his desk while the history teacher lectured at the opposite side of the room. He allowed his mind to wander, as he had learned about 17th century Europe at his last school. 

His eyes wandered to the only person he knew in this school, Miss Shadra Bellona. He was no stranger to oddities, yet he couldn't figure her out. She talked to herself, she blew computers up just by touching them, and she had a large bandage on her arm. 

/Maybe she has a Yami… / Ryou thought. 

/Pfff, impossible, / his own Yami replied. /She doesn't have a Millennium Item. / 

/But that key, the one she always wears around her neck,/ Ryou said. 

/Or maybe it's for fashion. I hear girls are kind of interested in that / Bakura sneered. 

"Miss Bellona," the teacher snapped, jerking Ryou out of his conversation. "Which Hungarian Countess was charged for vampirism and being a werewolf? And which crimes did she commit?" 

"Elizabeth Bathory [1]," she automatically replied. "And no crimes." 

"I expected more from you," the teacher gloated. "The crimes were listed as torture and murder, among other more sadistic acts." 

/I like her already, / Bakura said. 

Ryou sweat dropped. His Yami scared him sometimes. Okay, most of the time. 

"Oh, you meant the crimes she was charged," Shadra said. 

"And I suppose with that little prodigy mind of yours, you have a great excuse already made up," the teacher said. "Do not be mistaken, I will not coddle you or praise you or give you great marks just for gracing us with your presence." 

"For a history teacher, you sure don't examine the facts," Shadra said. "First of all, most of the witnesses were vague on their accounts, or where given in third person. Second, they didn't even allow Countess Bathory to testify. Third, any murderer, rapist, and psycho could have taken the stand to condemn her for the acts they committed." 

The teacher opened his mouth to say something, but Shadra cut him off. "Her family has a history of mental problems, due to inbreeding. Pretty much everything from schizophrenia to seizures. In today's society, she would have been in a mental institution a long time ago. Then we must consider her upbringing, where cruelty to peasants was everywhere, and her noble upbringing didn't have all too many restrictions—" 

"Enough!" the teacher said. "We are here to learn facts, not to play make believe. Elizabeth Bathory tortured 600 girls, and was charged for vampirism and werewolfism. End of story." 

Shadra slumped in her desk, and the teacher continued on with the lecture. 

/Aww, and I was starting to really get into that story, / Bakura said. 

Scratch most of the time. Ryou wondered how he could sleep at night.

* * *

[1] Whether Elizabeth Bathory was innocent or not is still up for debate. Well, actually it isn't, because people are pretty sure she's guilty. But why she did it is still up. Those are real reasons. Also, Elizabeth Bathory would later inspire Bram Stoker's Dracula (she bathed in the blood of her victims to keep herself young looking). Oh, and Shadra doesn't believe that Elizabeth Bathory was completely innocent, she just said none to start her point off. And she probably wasn't a vampire or a werewolf.

* * *

Ryou entered the cafeteria just as Shadra hurriedly left. She looked upset, but he didn't have to long to think about it as he was jumped by a rather enthusiastic blue-haired boy. 

"You're Ryou, right?" the boy asked. 

Ryou, a little stunned, nodded. 

"My name's Jake [2]," the bluenette said, as he grabbed Ryou by the arm and pulled him to a table. 

Bakura snarled at the treatment, and muttered threats from his soul room. Ryou hoped to Ra that he'd calm down before doing something not so good. 

"I found him!" Jake announced to the group of boys sitting around the table. 

"About time," a brown-haired boy muttered. Ryou could easily compare this kid to his Yami right then. 

"Don't mind Yarou," Jake said, gesturing to the brown-haired kid. "He's the floor Prefect, so we forced him to be here." 

"You're the only new boarder on our floor this year, so we made a welcoming committee," another boy said. "I'm Kido, your next door neighbour." 

"Hmph," a red haired boy said. 

Jake and Kido sighed. "Menoda says that you pushed him in the hall for no apparent reason," Jake explained. 

Seeing as how Ryou felt his Yami giving Menoda the evil eye, he knew it was true. And he knew, once again, that he would have to have to do the apologising. 

"Sorry, I was just…" Ryou searched his head for a plausible excuse. "I had a head ache." Named Yami Bakura. 

/Watch what you think, fool, / his Yami growled. Ryou winced. He had heard his Hikari's thoughts again. Why couldn't he put up a stronger mental wall? 

"Whatever," Menoda said, before Yami Bakura had a chance to reply. 

"Great, now we have two Yarou's," Kido said. He smiled nervously as both Yarou and Menoda glared at him. And Bakura made three, Ryou thought as quietly as he could. Since there wasn't any retaliation, he assumed his darker half hadn't heard. 

"We made our special lunch for you!" Jake said, displaying a tin lunch box. 

Ryou looked at the brown slop. They didn't expect him to eat that, did they? It didn't even resemble any food he'd ever seen. The boys were looking at him expectantly. 

He hesitantly took the tin out of Jake's hands, and sat down. Taking the pair of chopsticks stuck in the box, his hand hovered over the food. 

This has got to be a newbie prank, Ryou thought. But they looked so innocent. They had probably tried their hardest, it was the least he could do to try it. 

Ryou took a bite, chewing exactly twenty-three times and then swallowing. Anyone who knew him well would have noticed his paler skin, the thoroughly fake smile, and that he was about to throw it back up. 

"So how is it?" Apparently, these boys didn't know him that well. 

"Delicious," Ryou said, all the time wondering where the nearest washroom was.

* * *

[2] Pronounced the Japanese way, Jah then Keh (Ja-Ke).

* * *

Shadra rubbed her eyes, hoping they weren't red anymore. She had business to discuss, and this definitely wasn't the way to appear. 

She should've expected it. These sorts of things always had a way of going through the grapevine. But why did those girls have to be so cruel? She wasn't used to dealing with the finer gender. In her whole life, she only had three, no maybe four, girl friends. And they turned out to be stranger than she was. They had never teased her, or made fun of her. 

But other girls were different. They were cruel, they were nasty, they were… Shadra couldn't choose the right word. 

Give her demons any day, they had a reason for being evil. 

And that's exactly what she got. Before slaying Dave last night, she had learned of this particular magic shop. Supposedly, one of the best in this neighbourhood. But from the outside, it didn't look so impressive. It merely took up a small shop, one floor. Feathers and candles and some ancient looking texts (which on closer examination, turned out to be manufactured that way) were displayed in the window. 

Proudly in gold and purple, read the name 'Sinsin Occult Shop' in English. The kanji were written only in purple beneath a black pentagon. How stereotypical, Shadra thought. 

She walked in through the door, hearing the bell jingling. As the bell settled, she heard strands of New Age music. Trivial items such as lucky rabbit feet and scented candles were displayed on the shelves and tables. A pile of books had been carefully laid out on the center round table (there always has to be round tables in magic shops). Shadra raised her eyebrow to one of the books. The shiny black cover and red pentagon made it look like a real spell book, as well as the name, Book of Shadows, but if any of that actually worked, she'd eat Balla. Her ex-roommate was a witch, and had bought the book but discarded it as soon as she had actually read it. 

Shadra was having serious doubts about the store's reputation. 

"Good afternoon," the clerk said in a fake Romanian accent. His nametag read Dragon. "Came in for a love spell? Or a way to curse for your tormentors?" 

Forcing herself to forget the curse (Black Magick was so hard to work anyway), she asked, "Any information on Slayers?" 

He gestured a bookshelf to the right. Buffy the Vampire Slayer everything! Her eyes jumped to a turquoise book cover. Oh… The Slayer Chronicles 3 in Japanese! She hadn't even known it was out in English. Wait, calm down. This wasn't what she was here for. 

"Actual information on the Tokyo Slayers," Shadra said. "I know that you know what I'm talking about. I want to know who they were, how strong they were, and why they're dead." 

"Oh, so you're in the biz," Dragon said, losing the accent. "Sorry, I thought you were a tourist," he said, eyeing her school uniform. She made a mental note to wear her demon-slaying clothes next time she visited the magic shops. He turned to the back of the shop, where the stairs going down were. She followed him. 

"Unfortunately, they're what pay the bills around here. The demons, they think that they can just take whatever they want. Which is why my most of my valuable stuff is downstairs." 

"But you shouldn't have any trouble," Shadra said. "You're a powerful wizard." 

"How did—Oh, you sensed it. Yeah, those thieves get their just deserts in the end. Come along then." 

The two descended to the lower level. The difference was phenomenal. Actual old books with actual spells in them lined many bookshelves. Tables (this time some were square) held priceless antiques, potion ingredients, and gems that shimmered with hidden power. Weapon cabinets stood against one wall; the metal and leather apparent through even the few doors left a jar. A real magic shop, although the presence of scented candles in one corner kind of scarred the image. 

Everything seemed to be old. Except for maybe the security system half-hidden near the weapon cabinets. 

"Brought the Furies all the way from Los Angeles to cast that," the wizard said. "Nobody can steal or damage anything down here." 

"Aren't the Furies part of Angel?" Shadra asked. 

Dragon gave her an odd look. "Just because the regular folk fictionalised them, doesn't mean they don't exist. The Furies are very powerful beings, with only the Masters as their better. As for living in Los Angeles, they like to be near David Boreanaz." 

Shadra snickered. Just like the Furies on the show. But only the Masters being more powerful than the Furies, well that she had to file away in her memory. 

"So you're looking into the Tokyo Slayers, eh?" Dragon continued, looking through a stack of books. "Can't say much about how they disappeared, no creature knows. For all we know, they could be vacationing in Hawaii." 

"So they're not dead?" Shadra asked, leaning onto one of the tables. Big mistake, for the table tilted and a large crystal sphere came rolling off the table. Her hand dove, and clutched at the shiny surface. 

"Maybe, maybe not. But something fishy is going on. Human murders have gone up by nearly forty percent." 

At the last second, she managed to throw her foot out underneath the falling sphere. It plopped softly. Shadra sighed in relief before setting the sphere back onto the table in it's proper place. 

"Wait, forty percent?" Shadra asked, now that her full attention could be on the wizard. 

"Yep. And demon murders are up sixty percent." 

The human murders were understandable, as with the Slayers, humans' greatest protectors, being gone, but demon deaths were up as well? If the Slayers were truly gone, who or what was killing the demon population off at such a high rate? 

"Not even the Other Kin are safe," Dragon said. "Though they're harder to track." 

Other Kin were Amaranthine, other worldly creatures, whose souls were born into human bodies. It was the one of two ways to cross the Gates into this dimension. The other being summoning (which explained why demons were in such high order in the first place). Vampires were sort of like Other Kin, because they were both half-human. Other Kin had an advantage over both demons and humans, as they had the better of two worlds. Quicker healing, increased speed, stronger muscles, as well as being able to blend in with humankind and be in the sun all day with no worries. Because of this, the news that even they were affected was terrible. 

Dragon must have found the books he wanted because he let out a sound almost like a squeal. But much more manly. He grabbed a paper bag out from under the table (the Magick world has yet to discover plastic), and bagged four large volumes, the most that the poor bag could hold. Two other paper bags were needed as well. 

"All the latest Watcher and Slayer diaries I've been able to pick up," Dragon said. Pick up as in buy them off scavenging demons. 

He headed up to the first floor. It took Shadra a few seconds to realise what was going on before she walked up too. 

"So why exactly do you need to know this?" Dragon asked as he rang up the charges. 

It took Shadra by surprise. Why did she need to know? It wasn't her problem. Her job was to simply exist. But, she couldn't accept that mundane purpose even if it was saving the world from chaos. If she only had four or five years left, why shouldn't she do something worthwhile in between? Have some purpose that she chose. 

"I'm a hero." 

_To be continued..._


	3. Ryou, Really, It Isn't Such A Good Idea

Battle of the Masters: Ancient Shadows   
Chapter Three: Ryou, Really, It Isn't Such A Good Idea**by Shadou-sama**

Shadra returned to the school in barely enough time to set her new books in her room and get to class. But she had kept one to read during her afternoon classes. 

It had been very nice of Dragon to give her the books free, she thought as she settled into a desk at the back. Especially since she didn't have any money. She didn't know what convinced him to do so, as she was pretty sure she'd have to break the Furies' spells, but maybe it had been her answer. 

Math, she thought grudgingly. But at least her studies in Great Britain had overshadowed the course here. Otherwise, she might have had to pay attention. 

She noticed that Ryou was in this class as well. He seemed to be in a lot of her classes. 

As the bell rang, and the teacher started her lecture, Shadra delved into the book. She scowled as she discovered it was written in Latin. She had been one hundred percent certain that she had left that blasted dead language back at Everto. 

English class ended with Ryou wondering whether it was his English getting rusty, or if it was the teacher's. He guess it was the teacher's, since Shadra had seemed quite adamant that the word 'Final' was not pronounced 'Fee-nal'. That had been pretty much the only time she'd pulled her nose out of her book, he had noticed. 

/You notice her a lot, / Bakura said through their mind link. 

/Eh? / Ryou asked, wondering what his Yami was talking about. 

He felt his darker half shrug. /It seems like every few minutes that you notice her. / 

/So? / Ryou still had little idea what Bakura was talking about. 

/You never notice anybody. / 

Ryou was about to reply, but his Yami had set up a mental block. He sighed. That meant one of two things: Bakura was angry and annoyed about something or he was just plain bored of Ryou. 

Ryou walked up to the girl's desk, and looked over her shoulder. She seemed very interested in the book, as the bell had rung five minutes ago and she still had to give any sign of noticing it. 

"What language is that?" Ryou asked, not noticing how intimate with her ear he was. 

Shadra jumped, slamming the book shut. Seeing that it was only Ryou, she exhaled and smiled. "Latin," she said. "Evil dead language." 

"What's it about?" Ryou asked. 

"Um… It's just a book. Need to keep my foreign language lessons up, you know?" 

Ryou nodded. "Ready for your computer lesson?" 

"No," she said. 

"No?" 

"No." 

"So you are ready," Ryou said, taking her answer as a contradiction. 

She sighed. 

Shadra and Ryou walked into his dorm room. The first thought that she had was 'plain'. 

It was obvious that Ryou hadn't done anything to customise his room. His textbooks and a laptop sat neatly on his desk, but those were the only thing on it. She herself had a few framed pictures of her friends, grouped into beyblade teams and non-beybladers, many colourful pens and beyblade parts, and a packet of cat treats. His carpeted floor was clean, while Shadra's already had half a dozen clothing items on the floor. She grimaced at the mess, making a note to clean it up. She was usually very neat and tidy, especially on the day she'd arrived at a new place. 

The small bookshelf by his bed was empty except for a few books, which she noted as being either textbooks or those on Ancient Egypt. She noticed that the thin layer of dust on the top shelf. Her bookshelf wasn't so empty. It housed many books on witchcraft, demons, Tokyo slayers and divination (which included her ancient Book of Prophecies, started by the First Time Master and written in by the rest of the line). Not to mention the knickknacks she had collected on her latest travels. 

His bed was made up by the school provided grey bed set, while Shadra's was, well, made up by the school provided grey bed set. She hadn't really thought about getting her own. But she also had her attempt of a wool blanket as well, in a fun purple and yellow. She thought she saw something sticking out from under his bed… she couldn't make out quite what it was, and it would be rude to take a closer look. 

Ryou's walls were bare and devoid of any dirty finger smudges. Beyblade team posters (her own team's poster being the biggest), Kai Hiwatari posters (she still had a few, even if she wouldn't admit it), and a small poster of her model friend Arwen (which was kind of weird, considering) covered her walls. She didn't know if the sketches that her psychic vampire friend had drawn for her counted, seeing as she preferred to hide them inside her closet as they tended to give her nightmares. 

The door to Ryou's closet was firmly shut, so Shadra couldn't see what was in there. Could it be the keys to Ryou's self? Shadra was pretty sure it was different from what she had. Her clothes took up only part of it, seeing as how she never had much money to buy them with. She was sure that Ryou had clothes, but did he have black leather demon fighting clothes? Probably didn't have a long black coat either. Her weapon items included four stakes, two daggers, a sword (once wielded by the First herself), a crossbow and plenty of bolts. She was pretty sure she had plenty of holy water, since she wasn't sure if water could get holy from a Buddhist priest. She'd never heard of that before. She really hoped no one went through her closet, it would be kind of hard to explain. 

He must move around a lot, she decided. Less stuff, less to worry about. 

"So, do you know how to turn on a laptop?" Ryou asked, opening said object up on his desk. 

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked. 

"Yes, I'm sure. Now—" 

"Are you really sure this is a good idea?" she asked again. She didn't want to break his laptop. 

"Yes," he said, still patient. 

"Okay," she said, sliding onto the chair. She gave the laptop a good quick glare, before reaching out for the 'on' button. She tapped it gently. Nothing happened. Annoyed and still glaring at it, she tapped it again harder. Still annoyed and glaring, she was about to hit it as hard as she could when Ryou stopped her. Which was very intuitive of Ryou, since her strength was a little off the charts. 

"That's not the power button," Ryou said, stopping her. He felt the mental shield in his head go down. His Yami jumped out of the Ring in spirit form. 

/What are you doing? / Ryou asked. 

/Watching the show, / Bakura replied as he settled weightlessly on the bed. 

He looked back at his 'student'. She gave no sign of noticing Ryou's distraction, and was currently muttering away. 

"Del," she said, her finger hovering over the bottom. "Seen that before. Maybe… Wait, seen this before. What was it… how to save? Deliver. Then it was gone. So bad key, very bad key." 

/She really is loony, / Bakura commented. 

"It's right here," Ryou said, pointing to the 'on' button and pointedly ignoring his Yami's comment. 

"Oh! That would make sense," she said. 

Bakura smirked and got up. /Ku. Any brains in there? / he asked, then waved his spirit hand into her head. /Guess not. / 

/Yami… / 

One minute she was turning the laptop on, the next she was running through a dark and spooky forest. Why? Oh, there was a person sprinting up ahead. Trees falling, _smack!_ Nearly falling on her. Who was up ahead? Familiar… 

"Shadra?" a voice asked, and she snapped back into Ryou's room. What the heck, she wondered to herself. It was like a vision, but it didn't seem like one. It didn't seem like a past memory either. 

"Shadra?" the voice, Ryou's, asked more urgently. 

She snapped her head up to look at him. "What? Oh, sorry." 

"Are you okay?" he asked, concern etching his features. 

"Y—uh, I think I should go lay down," she said. She noticed him give a glare, not quite looking at her. Glare? Nah, she must be mistaken. He seemed like Ryou, not Bakura. 

"If you're sure," Ryou said. He looked concerned. "Maybe try again tomorrow?" 

"Sure," Shadra said, and exited. 

She walked down to her room. Who had she been chasing? Or what? The forest… It looked familiar. It was. Surrounding her last boarding school was a large dark forest, home of many creatures waiting to tear one's throat out. 

Suffice to say, she'd spent too many evenings there. But the trees had never fallen before. Not even in the final battle. Those trees were tough and it would take nothing less than the apocalypse to tear them down. 

That was what frightened her the most. What manner of creature could do that? 

She reached her door and entered. Her spirit guide was currently fascinated with a dust bunny. One day of class and already her room had dust bunnies. Shadra really needed to get cleaning. 

"Balla," she said. 

_Just a moment,_ the cat said, her head snaking around as she batted the bunny. 

"It's important." 

_It can wait._ Balla rose on her hind legs to keep up with the bunny that was spiriting upwards. 

"I had a vision," Shadra said, and closed the door after realising anybody could be outside listening. 

_A vision?_ Balla asked, giving Shadra her full attention. The dust bunny wafted to the ground, forgotten. 

"Maybe, I don't know." She collapsed onto her bed. Balla jumped up beside her. "It seemed like it, but it didn't… feel like one." 

Balla waited for her to continue. 

"I was trying to turn Ryou's computer on, when I just sort of blacked out. I was running in a forest… chasing something… But I don't know what. The trees were falling… the demon forest was falling. Then Ryou called to me, and I was back, like nothing had happened. Well, not exactly. It was just like I had just zoned out or something." 

_And you didn't move? _

Shadra shook her head. 

_And it was the demon forest of Everto?_

She nodded. 

Balla paced back and forth on the bed. Shadra resisted the urge to laugh. Sometimes, Balla acted like a total cat. Other times, she acted like a human, which was pretty amusing if it was someone in cat form. Balla could also act like a panther. No wait, she could turn into a panther. 

"So what was it?" 

_I don't know._

"Great help you are." 

Balla gave her an annoyed look. 

"What did you do?" Ryou asked out loud to his Yami, who was still in spirit form. 

/I only put my hand through her head, / Bakura replied. /It normally never does anything. / 

/You must have done something, / Ryou said mentally. /Normal people don't just… black out. / 

/That girl is anything but normal, / Bakura said. /She's insane. She believes in vampires and demons and stuff. She fancies herself a hero. / 

/How do you know that? / Ryou asked. 

/I saw flashes of her mind in my head. And she is one messed up broad. She thinks her cat actually replies. / 

/If you saw into her mind, you must've done something. / 

/It's probably just another power of the Ring. It's got a million of them and counting. / 

/Did she see into your mind? / Ryou asked. /Was it two-way? / 

Bakura stopped, contemplating. /You better find out. We don't need some psycho chick coming after our Millennium Items to make her little schizophrenic dreams into reality. / 

/She'd fit right in with all the other Item gatherers, / Ryou said. It was true. Pegasus had been bordering on complete insanity. His own Yami… well, enough said there. Marik was completely insane. /Wait, what do you mean Items? / 

Bakura dodged the question by retreating to his soul room. Ryou sighed. He did not like the sound of his Yami having multiple Items.

* * *

_You're going out?_ Balla asked as Shadra grabbed her long black coat from her closet. The new digital clock on her bookshelf said 7:03 PM. 

"Yeah," she said. "Visit my 'mother'." 

_Want me to come, too?_

"Thanks, but no thanks. I don't think they let cats into the hospital." 

_True. I don't know how many times I've had to sneak into your hospital rooms._

* * *

Bakura seized control of Ryou's body. All his Hikari wanted to do was hang out in his dorm room. That wasn't exciting enough for the Yami. 

He descended into the city streets. What would be a good challenge? The nearby restaurant-lined street. Lots of people, lots of chances to get caught. 

He glided through the market, waiting for a target. Just anybody wouldn't do. Someone wealthy or someone who hasn't spent all their money at the restaurants. It wasn't worth the effort if there wasn't a good haul. 

Oh, hello. A redhead in his teens, around Ryou's age, lounging against a brick wall by an alley. His black silk shirt and blood red leather pants screamed money. And his shoes… Gucci? They looked designer. By the bored-with-the-world expression, he was very much in the money. 

How would he get close enough? The alley.

* * *

Shadra opened the door to her mother's hospital room. She wasn't entirely certain that this was the correct room. She didn't know her mother's surname. But the nurse she had introduced herself had pointed her to this door. 

"Hello?" she asked, speaking in her native tongue. 

A pale, tired woman looked up from one of the beds. It wasn't a private room. But for now, only one bed was occupied. 

"Shadra?" the woman asked, her voice a bit shaky. 

She nodded, and sat down by the woman's bed. Shadra noted the flowerless, card-less counter. 

"So, you're my mother," Shadra said. She also wanted to add abandoner, baby killer, evil horrible creature… 

"He, I guess I have some explaining to do," the woman said. 

"You think?" 

"Oh, and call me Grace. Grace Stephens." 

Shadra just looked at her. 

"Heh, well, I know you must think I'm a horrible person." 

Understatement. 

"But I was a seventeen year old girl when you were born. And your father had died. I was all alone and with two baby girls to take care of." 

"So that makes it all right, then? Everything's just peachy, no hard feelings." 

Grace shook her head, greasy blue locks of hair falling into her eyes. "It doesn't make it right," she said, pushing the loose hair back behind her ear. "I just wanted to tell you the circumstances." 

"I'm so glad that you pulled me out of my life so that I can learn why you abandoned me." 

Grace sighed. Shadra wasn't about to let up her verbal attacks. "Also… Under my bed, there's a box for you." 

Shadra, after glancing suspiciously to see if it was a trap, got down on her knees and searched under the bed. She pulled out a small ebony chest, weighing little more than a few pounds even with the inlaid silver. 

She looked up at Grace, observing the woman once again. No trace of menace or glee could be imagined on the serene face. 

She opened up the box. On top was a legal sized envelope. She opened it up, scanning the writing. She looked up at Grace. 

"You're now a legal adult," Grace said. "So that after I die you won't have to bother with foster homes anymore." 

"Are you afraid?" Shadra asked, out of nowhere. 

"Of what?" Grace asked. 

"Dying," Shadra said, her face blank. 

"A little…" 

Shadra shook her head. Idiot woman. Dying wasn't the bad part. It was actually sort of pleasant… like when you finish a long Latin essay and just sit back. No, the scary part was when you came back. 

She set the envelope and its contents to the side. "A debit card?" 

"Your full high school tuition is paid in full, but that doesn't include expenses for clothes and such," she said, nodding. "Spend the money anyway you want, just try to be responsible." 

Shadra nodded, wondering just how much money was on the account. 

The next item was a key. "A car?" she asked, almost hopefully. 

Grace laughed lightly. "No, sorry," she said. "Never did own a car. I preferred a bike. No, that's the key to my storage unit. Go see it, and take anything you'd like. I don't have much use for it." 

"Thanks," she said, actually grateful. This woman had abandoned her, but at least she was making it easier for Shadra. 

"Unfortunately, my health insurance will only cover my hospital fees," Grace said, looking sad. "But everything else won't be touched. I've made it very clear and permanent in my will." 

Shadra nodded, and looked at the last item. It was another letter, but without an envelope. She picked it up to unfold it, but Grace stopped her. 

"Wait until you're home, then read it," Grace said. 

Shadra silently wondered why. What could one little letter hold that that would be important? But she agreed, if only to humour an old dying woman.

* * *

Bakura walked back down the alley, a new leather wallet in his possession. It had been easy. A sleazily dressed girl had distracted the boy. Bakura wasn't even sure if he wanted the wallet anymore. 

"Thief!" A slightly accented voice rang out. Oh, the boy had noticed. A little police dodging, maybe that would make it worthwhile. 

But nobody came. No one searched for the robber in the alley. It's like they hadn't… 

Five burly men in their late teens advanced on him from the other end of the alley. He turned around and saw that two new men and the boy he'd stolen from blocked that exit. The buildings beside the alley were three stories high with no visible ledges or fire escapes. There was no way he'd escape without a fight. 

"This him, Master?" one of the five men behind him asked. Master? What kind of weird guys were these? 

"Yes," 'the Master' replied. Of course, the red head. He wondered how this kid, barely as old as his Hikari, got so much respect from these thugs. 

But it didn't matter. Escape, graphic violence, and many enemy casualties were what mattered. 

"Who are you," 'the Master' demanded. 

Bakura smirked. "Ryou Bakura, and you are?" 

The redhead grinned, and then answered as if doing Bakura a great favour. "Tala Ivanov." 

"So what is this, the Russian Mafia?" Bakura asked, indicated the tough men. 

Tala closed his eyes, looking smug. "Ares' Army. Beware." 

"Uh huh. Right." 

"You should be more impressed with your protectors." 

"Protectors, eh? From what? Last time I checked you're the ones who are threatening me." 

"Exactly. You want to thieve in my town, you have to pay a protection fee." 

"You protecting me from you," Bakura said. 

"You're a quick learner. Let's start off with the starter fee. One hundred thousand yen a month, no exceptions." 

"And if I don't?" he challenged. 

"You'll be too busy with your coma nightmares to worry," Tala said lightly. 

"Ku. Fine," Bakura relented. 

"It's good that we reached an agreement," Tala said. 

Agreement, sure. If Tala wanted to delude himself, let him. There was no way that the King of Thieves would allow himself to pay… protection fees. Hell, he should be giving Tala the service. If it weren't for his Hikari's weak body.

* * *

_A figure jumped out the window of a local school. Instead of landing_ splat!_ like humans do, it landed on its feet. It swayed momentarily, but quickly regained its balance. _

It took off running. It smelled fear. It smelled pain. It smelled delicious, oh so delicious, chi. It smelled prey. 

The streetlights fell dull as the figure ran by. But that didn't matter to it. They were merely flickering candle flames compared to the bright chi of the beaten woman. It didn't need light. No, it preferred darkness. In the dark… Light hurt its eyes. It gained so much satisfaction snuffing out the little wandering flames. 

So long it had been, since last it could emerge from its prison. The taste… Oh how it had forgotten the taste of life. Death held little interest. It never wondered if it would die. It knew that as long as there were little flickering flames all around Earth that it would survive. 

The screams pounded into its head. It knew it was drawing closer. Soon, for the first time in too long, it would taste the finest wine in life. 

The woman lay up ahead, a muscled man standing over her, holding her skirt. The woman begged for mercy, begged like the little bitch she was. 

The figure slowed down as the woman's attention was drawn to it. 

"Help me, help me please!" the woman shrieked. It rang through its head. Too loud! "Call the police, please!" 

"Shut up, you little—" 

It grabbed hold of the man's shoulder and tossed him into a brick wall. He flew against it like he was merely a wad of paper, not the two and a half hundred pounds of flesh that he was. 

"Thank you," she said, her breath heavy. "Thank the Lord…" 

She looked into its eyes, and started shrieking once more. 

It hissed and grabbed her by the throat. It's claws sank into tender flesh, blood spurting out over its hand. The woman choked, whether from her own blood or from its fatal grip would never be known. 

"Sto…p…" the woman gasped. 

But it was too late, and the flame died out. 

Shadra woke up, sitting straight up in her bed. Blankets spilled of her. Balla, somewhere in the tangle, growled a sleepy warning. 

She looked around. Everything was as it should. Nothing out of place. Just a dream. She looked at her clock and realised it was almost time to get up. 

_To be continued..._


	4. All Hallows Eve

Battle of the Masters: Ancient Shadows

Chapter Four – All Hallows Eve

_by Shadou-sama_

A month later, Shadra had forgotten about her strange dream and vision. Every night she went out patrolling, and way too often for her liking she took out multiple vampires. She had yet to come face to face with a full demon, or even a half demon. Just the lowest of the half-breeds. She couldn't tell if this was good or bad. And oh yeah, she has forgotten so far to read that letter.

Bakura kept his little night's adventure quiet. Ryou hadn't the faintest clue of his run-in with the gang. His birthday had passed with a surprising amount of people giving him gifts. Funny, 'cause Ryou hadn't told anybody about his birthday.

The two had a few more computer lessons, but it seemed that both of them were too busy for more. Shadra managed to remember where the power button was and successfully booted it up. Bakura had ceased to call her a loony, at least out loud.

And now it was Halloween, their favourite holiday.

* * *

Shadra left the cafeteria line, her tray now full. Glancing around the room, she found an empty table. Too content with her night off, for once she didn't care that she had no friends.

As a rule, things that go bump in the night didn't go out on Halloween. Some educated people have made guesses as to why. Shadra's personal theory was that they weren't scary. If everybody's dressing up as monsters and vampires, everybody will think that the real demons and vampires are fake. Thus, no scare. In her experience, vampires liked to scare more than anything.

"ALOHA! MI AMIGOS!"

A particularly loud and very tan purple-streaked girl burst into the cafeteria. Instead of leaving her uniform plain and normal, she had added knee-high bright yellow socks and a thick black belt with too many silver lined holes. She wore her black and purple hair in peppy pigtails, with a forehead full of bangs. Shadra had never seen her around.

"Hey, Kiana!" one guy yelled.

"You broke your own record in lateness," a girl said.

"They should give you a medal," another boy commented.

"Principal Hutai is going to give you detention."

"Totally worth it! An extra month in Hawaii or a month in school... it was such a hard choice," Kiana said.

Shadra turned back to her breakfast. Some new (or late, apparently), over-energetic girl was less interesting than mystery porridge and toast.

She had always wondered why people said that cafeteria food stank. She couldn't find better in any five star restaurant. Though she was starting to think that it was only Everto, a school that taught the sons and daughters of the richest people on Earth. Tyson and Max had won the argument.

"Hey, new girl!" Kiana's face was mere inches from Shadra's previously glazed over eyes.

"Eep!" Shadra jumped back, nearly falling out of her chair.

"Sorry," she said, smiling apologetically. But that didn't stop her from stealing a triangle of toast of Shadra's plate. "So what's your name, noob?"

"Shadra."

"Hey, you're on that beyblading team! The one that won the world championships! The Bladebreakers."

"Yeah, I am," Shadra replied, amazed that a girl willingly admitted to her membership. The amount of crap Shadra got from fan girls... not pretty. That doesn't even include how many readily gossiped about her supposed sexual orientation.

"I'm a beyblade too. Number one spot on the school's beyblade team this fall. Unless they changed it without warning me..." She glared at someone entering the room.

"A beyblade team?"

"Yep, the Tokujin Fuzzy Kittens."

Shadra raised her eyebrows at the name. That was a downright civil name. Even friendly.

"The Guidance Counselor's idea," Kiana explained. "Friendly competition and all. Besides, I think it's cute."

Shadra just nodded.

"You know what? You should join. We're red hot. Almost won the supermarket's tournament last semester!"

Not bloody likely. She didn't want to beyblade against a bunch of novices. Either she'd beat them very badly and they'd quit in shame, or she'd lower herself to their level and not be fair to her own ability. It just wasn't worth it.

"Our individual division beyblader nearly won the Regionals."

That got her attention. "And who's that?"

Kiana looked up, looking like she was thinking hard. "He wasn't very social. Didn't even say 'hello' to me. And kept making fun of my skills. Um... Kai... something..."

"Kai Hiwatari?" Duh, they were in Japan speaking Japanese. "Hiwatari Kai?"

"Yeah, that's it. Hey, he captained your team, eh?"

Shadra nodded. So, Kai attended this school. Then why wasn't he here? Odd... She hadn't heard anything from him since they split up in Regina, Saskatchewan. She kind of... missed him.

"Hey, new guy!" Kiana's attention had already changed. "Over here!"

Shadra looked over to see Ryou Bakura, severely startled, coming up to the table. Plus a few guys from Ryou's floor, Jake, Kido and Menoda.

"Yo," Kiana said. "Sit, boys!"

The three boys rolled their eyes as they took their seats around her. Ryou, still looking startled, took a seat next to Shadra.

"And what's your name, cutie?" Kiana asked.

Ryou blushed. "Uh-uh..."

"He's Bakura Ryou," Shadra explained, smiling because she got the right order on the first try. Ryou gave a grateful glance.

"Nice to meet you, Ryou-chan!" Kiana said enthusiastically. "I'm Kiana, from the sunshine state. Wait..." she furrowed her brow. "That's Florida. Hmm... I'm from the Aloha! State. Also voted most perky person in the entire world fourth year running."

"Hi," Ryou said softly.

The others got into teasing Kiana about her lateness, and Ryou continued to be quiet.

Shadra wondered what was with him. Why so nervous now? Come to think of it, she'd only seen him talking with guys. Around girls, he was quiet. Except for her. He must be shy around girls! Definitely not complimenting Shadra's femininity.

Though she guessed that could be expected. What effeminate girl kicked vampires' butts at night?

"I got an idea!" Kiana exclaimed.

"For once..." someone said under his breath. Shadra doubted anyone else had heard it.

"A Halloween Clubbing Night, to celebrate everyone's favourite holiday!"

"It's not my favourite holiday," Menoda said. Shadra suspected him for the earlier comment.

"What's Halloween?" Jake whispered to Kido.

"It's when you go house to house asking for candy," Kido whispered back.

"Oh..."

"Not just for candy. You get to dress up as scary monsters and pull pranks on teachers!" Kiana argued.

"I guess Halloween isn't very popular here," Shadra observed. "Too bad. I love it."

"Me too," Ryou agreed.

"Then it's settled. Tonight we go to Fox Den."

* * *

/Finally, you're doing something fun, / Bakura said as he watched his Hikari in spirit form.

They were in the privacy of their dorm room. Classes were over and Ryou had a whole weekend to finish his homework. Conditions couldn't be better for partying.

/It's Halloween, Yami,/ Ryou commented as he looked through his closet. /Why would I want to be cooped up?/

/Why do you choose to be cooped up everyday? / Bakura asked. /Think we'll see those vampires Shadra's so convinced exists? /

Ryou looked over at his Yami. /Would you protect me?/

/And get to meet a real bloodsucker? Sure. /

People always thought his Yami was the one into all the occult stuff. But in reality, Ryou was the one who believed in it. Bakura just liked those kinds of cards 'cause they scared the bejeebees out of everyone. Of course, if they were real Bakura would be first in line to meet and greet them. The context of greet wasn't very positive.

Ryou located the items that he wanted and pulled them out. A pale blue pair of jeans and his favourite blue and white striped shirt. Bakura snorted at the selection.

/The one day of the year you can be anything you want and you choose to be yourself. /

/Well, then what do you suggest?/ Ryou asked. /I don't have a costume./

/Sure you do, / Bakura replied. He slipped off the bed and came up beside his Hikari. /Here, / he said, pointing to the far left of corner of the closet. The part beyond the reach of the door, and its contents hidden by Bakura's long black coat.

Ryou pushed aside the clothes and his eyes widened comically. /You want me to wear.../

Black, black and more black. And did he mention the leather?

/No leather./

/Fine. The black jeans and the sleeveless shirt. /

Ryou pulled out the mentioned items and started dressing. /Where'd you get this stuff anyway?/ He hadn't know his Yami had his own clothes. Usually he wore what Ryou had, except for the trench coat. He figured his darker half had been trying to emulate Seto Kaiba with that.

/Stolen, / Bakura answered.

Ryou sighed. There wasn't any use trying to lecture him, or trying to get him to stop. Bakura did as he pleased. And stealing seemed to please him in ways Ryou could not understand.

* * *

Shadra stood in front of her mirror, holding up a pair of leather pants to see how they looked. "Hi, I'm a gigantic slut," she said. "Ooh, I like this pair. Saucy."

_And what exactly are you going as?_ Balla asked from her perch on the desk.

"Slayer. Or maybe a vamp. I don't know."

_And you're going to go party with your school chums dressed like a Mistress of Pain?_

"Yep!"

_Have I ever told you how strange you are?_

"That's something that could never be put into words."

* * *

The gang, if you could call it that since they didn't really hang out in a group, gathered in front of the school. The boys arrived first, after having physically pulled the shy Ryou from his room.

Wow, Shadra thought as she took sight of Ryou. This was definitely not like him. He was probably being a Bakura right then.

His style was all black, setting off his normally pale skin to look sheet white. Well, if he hadn't been blushing so much. His normally tied back white hair (because of the school dress code) was a loose flowing mane. His arms were uncovered because his tight shirt was sleeveless. A large gold pendant, looking Egyptian, hung around his neck. And tight black jeans.

Jake wore light blue jeans, as tight as Ryou's, with a white shirt. Thrown overtop was an open thigh-length red jacket. He reminded her strongly of Tyson.

Kido, the blonde, had thrown on a baggy pair of pants (Hiwatari-style, ooh la la) and a navy sleeve-less shirt. And reminiscent of American teenage boys, a silver chain hanging off his pants.

Menoda, well, how to describe him? Very much like Ryou, except more dangerous looking. And he had a nice mix of dark blue to the black. On the list of guys to dance with, he was number one, no higher than one. Stupid teenage hormones.

Shadra had on her leather pants and peasant shirt, but had added white elbow length finger-less gloves. She didn't want to look too evil. And of course she had on her silver key. She'd just told Balla about the holy water to stop her from worrying.

"Where's Kiana?" Shadra asked.

"Right here!" the perky girl announced as she pulled something out the front door. That something turned out to be Yarou, prefect for the boys' floor. He looked none too happy at this turn of events.

Kiana wore a tight purple shirt and black miniskirt. She had lost her yellow socks in favour for tall black boots. Instead of pigtails, her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, with large locks of hair left out to hide the base of her purple kitty ears.

And if Menoda was number one on Shadra's list, Yarou was definitely number two quarters. And he looked just swell with his leather pants.

"So, ready for Halloween?" Kiana asked, almost bouncing in her boots.

* * *

The music, the lights, the people... All entwining to give Shadra a buzz. As the DJ wound the last pounding song down, and switched to a slower song, Shadra retreated to the deserted second floor. She felt the subtle throb of an impending head ache.

_In her gaze, overflowing with sadness,_

_The flow of time is reflected_

She watched Kiana grab Bakura to dance with. A flock of girls surrounded Yarou, but he brushed them off and retreated with Menoda to the bar for a hopefully non-alcoholic beverage. That left Jake and Kido with their choice of depressed young women.

_Her intensely burning emotions grow distant_

_If she pursues white memories_

She climbed up the stairs, occasionally looking back to the blue lighted dancers. People... dancing with people... Having lives, having love, and having underage drinkers.

She spotted a few of the girls who had scorned her on her first day. Having the time of their lives in the arms of their boyfriends. They were.

_A shining premonition runs_

_To the very ends of a dream that shines uncertainly_

_Shunning eternal life_

She leaned on the railing that ran all around the second floor. She gazed down. Her head was feeling clearer, her eyesight much sharper. Not so much stimulus up here, she guessed.

Her muscles ached. Not even in a long and brutal battle did that occur. And while she was silently suffering, Kiana still bopped around below.

_No one knows, no one can see_

_The thread of destiny_

_She quietly embraces her tears in her heart, alone..._

A voice whispered in her ear, "For all your talk of light and righteousness... for all your talk of what's right and noble... You always come back to the dark."

"Tala," she murmured, her muscles tensing and she stood up straighter. He was close, so close that she could feel his breath on her ear and the cool copper key hanging off his throat.

_Her eyes, that have closed up to her heart,_

_Gaze down a frozen fingertip_

"So where are those 'friends' you sacrificed life for?" Tala asked. "The ones you signed our names on the death wish for? They're not here, are they..."

"What..." She ignored the hand on her waist. "What do you want?"

"For you to understand."

_Chasing after an ephemeral life that soon disappears,_

_She wanders the world of time_

She gasped as he spun her around, her back on the railing and her eyes gazing into his blue-eyed depths.

"You're not like them. Oh no." He shook his head slightly. "You're not even like Alleon and Holly. They are light, their reasons were pure. Their wants wouldn't hurt anybody."

_Her true face, unknown to any, is mysterious_

_She lives both the past and future_

_Shunning eternal life_

"Us, on the other hand... We're willing to kill, to destroy for what we desire. We're the dark to the world's light. We're the scourge, the plague, the lupine. You just don't accept it. But I do. I know I'll always been in the darkness."

"But I won't." With a grim expression, she pushed the Master of Space away from her, and headed back downstairs. Tala did not follow.

_The day will surely come someday when you will see_

_The thread of destiny_

_Now she quietly hides it in her heart, alone..._

Instead of heading back to the dance floor, she headed for the closest exit, to get away. Which happened to be the back exit.

The outside chill assaulted her as the door closed before her. She grumbled about her stupidity of leaving her jacket at home. It was the day before November, after all. Hugging herself for warmth, she listened to the dim music.

_In her gaze, overflowing with sadness,_

_The flow of time is reflected_

_Shunning eternal life_

She walked briskly forward, wanting to head home.

"Hey prehtay laydee," a slurred voice said, approaching her from the side.

She jumped away, out of reach and ready to attack. But it was only a drunken (and probably high) man. He looked to be middle aged, but it was difficult to tell with drunks and addicts. They aged too quickly. He wasn't a street bum, his clothes were too clean and trim. But he had a bottle of something (alcohol, she guessed) concealed in a paper bag like a wino.

"Whatcha doin out heere all 'lone?" The man swaggered forward, a look of lechery and drunken glee on his face. Disgusted, she hurried back.

"Wouldcha like teh come teh my pulace?" His expression turned to fear. "Ya... ya... ya're not real! Ya're dead!"

This stunned her. She tried to pass it off as some drunk's fantasy, but it struck too close to home.

"Ya're not 'sposed to be!"

_Her aimless journey soon ends,_

_That imminent time..._

He screamed. "Get 'way from me demon!"

Now beyond stunned. She didn't—couldn't move.

"Get 'way!" He pulled out a gun, pointing at her and his shaky finger on the trigger. He twitched, and the gun fired.

Her eyes widened.


	5. Dead

Battle of the Masters: Ancient Shadows   
Chapter Five: Dead**by Shadou-sama**

Ryou 'danced' with Kiana to the fast beat of a J-Pop hit. It wasn't so much dancing as it was swaying awkwardly to the beat. He could not dance. 

He looked to see where the others had gone. Yarou and Menoda were chatting at the bar. Jake and Kido were dancing with a couple of cute girls. Kiana was in front of him and Shadra was… hey, where was she? 

His eyes scanned over the dance floor, then up to the second floor balcony. A creepy young man glared down at Ryou. And he knew no more, for Bakura took over. 

He wordlessly abandoned his dance partner, and headed upstairs. 

"What do you want?" Bakura demanded. 

"The money," Tala replied, leaning sideways on the railing. 

"Sorry, fresh out." 

Tala scowled. "You don't want to mess with me, kid." 

"'Kid', that's funny." Bakura chuckled. "If only you knew…" 

"What are you, vampire, demon?" Tala asked. Then he cocked his head. "Kind of skinny for one. And weak." 

Bakura growled at the comment. 

"Guess not, because then you'd wouldn't try to f with me." 

"So you believe in fairy tales," Bakura said, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes. He smirked. "Would you like to live one?" 

But Tala didn't take the bait. "Fairy tales, reality, what's the difference?" He looked at Bakura. "But you wouldn't know that." 

"And why wouldn't I?" His curiosity was getting the better of him. 

"You're not special." Tala took a step forward. Bakura stood stock still, holding his ground. "You're not chosen." He took another step forward, and Bakura still refused to move. "You're not… elite." Tala took another step forward so that their noses nearly touched. 

Bakura smirked at the weak intimidation technique and the comment about not being chosen. He was a five thousand-year-old spirit, a king of thieves from Egypt's great days. He controlled Shadow Magic, could summon monsters beyond this mortal's imagination, and have them eagerly jumping around at his feet like an all too willing to please puppy. He could rip the soul out of this boy's body and send it into unimaginable torture. He was chosen. 

"I want the money by dawn," Tala said, no trace of the smugness left on his face. One hundred percent seriousness. "In the back alley. I'll be waiting." 

The redhead swept away.

* * *

Kiana danced alone after annoyingly losing her dance partner. He had been a good one, full of energy -- almost double the amount of a normal person -- even if he was a tense dancer. Who next? She surveyed the crowd. 

She felt a scream of terror slice through her heart. No, two screams, coming from outside the club. She grinned. No arrogant teenage boys to suck up to. Now she had a real, easy meal. 

She walked quickly outside. She turned her head right and left, searching for the victim. She couldn't tell the direction from the fear, it was too thick in the alley. After scanning the alley, she spotted an obviously drunk man holding a gun out and a figure hunched over in the shadows. 

Gleeful, she hurried over, ready to 'help.' As she drew closer, the hunched-over figure became clearer. Oh my god, it was Shadra! Blood pooled at her feet, dripping out of her abdomen, which she clutched at with her hand. The flame flickered. 

"Dead… not meant to be… go to hell bitch!" the drunk man shot again, but the gun jerked out of a killing shot to merely send a bullet whizzing by Shadra. 

"Hey, leave my friend alone!" Kiana yelled. 

The man turned on her, the gun clutched in his grip. "Demons. Demons!" The gun shook as he trembled. 

Kiana cursed. This guy was going to serious injure her self if she didn't act fast. But Shadra… Her eyes were squeezed shut in pain, she wouldn't see. 

Using all of her speed, she got behind the man. Kiana jerked his gun hand up, making it useless in the fight. Her other hand dug its claws into the soft tissue of his neck. 

"Night, night," she whispered.

* * *

Suddenly, Menoda was alone. Yarou had vanished, lickity-split, just a moment ago. Kido and Jake had left the dance floor. He saw their partners dancing with other men. Kiana and Shadra were no longer around, and Bakura… who cared about Bakura? Yes, he was still sore. 

"They ditched me," he growled. They dragged him all the way out here, then ran away. 

He narrowed away before stalking out of the club.

* * *

Shadra looked up, the pain easing away. The drunk laid unconscious several yards to her side. Cautiously, she stood up, the last little bits of her purple-black Magick sealing the bullet wound. That was close. Too close for comfort. 

"Demon," a voice snarled. 

Eh? Did the drunk speak? No, he hadn't moved. Then who— 

Atop the club stood a figure. She couldn't tell which gender it was for it's voluminous black hooded cloak concealed any revealing curves. She could see no telling features in the face either, for it was covered with a white mask. The eyes were outlined in black, Egyptian-like. Its lower lip was painted black. And coincidentally, he was blocking out the Halloween moon. 

"You shall die, like all your filthy brethren." 

"I'm not a demon!" Shadra yelled up to the figure. 

"You stole the breath from that poor man and stalled off death with your wicked Magick." 

That voice… it sounded familiar. Yet, pointlessly poetic. 

"I—but—I didn't!" 

"You shall be judged, and I will be the one to send you to that holy court!" 

All of Shadra's self-preservation told her to run. She had no weapons to fight with, nor did she know what kind of weapons it had. So she did. 

She was amazingly fast for a human. Well… mortal. Humans didn't wake up in their graves, now did they? 

She stopped a half a dozen blocks over, breathing hard. The masked figure wouldn't have been able to keep up, if it was human like she had guessed. But much to her surprise and dismay, it had appeared half a block in front of her, steadily walking towards her. 

Okay, that decided it. This thing was definitely _not_ human. 

She scrambled through the red Torii (gate) of a temple. If this masked figure was as holy and pure to pass judgment (even if it was a demon), it would not even try to hurt her on such sacred ground. But she really didn't want to wait to find out. 

Dodging around the main buildings, she sprinted to take cover in the graveyard. Hiding behind between a pair of thick bronze gravestones, she tried to quiet her breathing. 

Complete silence, except the rustle of the great trees and the grass. Shadra relaxed. 

"Boo."

* * *

Chiaka sifted through some papers on her desk. A late night again, she thought to herself as she glanced at her clock. Nearly one o'clock in the morning. 

She sighed. She barely got any leisure time anymore. Well, if you can count doing laundry, eating and washing herself at the local bathhouse as leisure time. But this weekend was different. Just as soon as she finished up some paperwork, she was done until 8:30 AM Monday morning. 

Chiaka pulled out Shadra's file. She readily admitted that she just didn't get her. 

Except for some minor offenses this semester, Shadra's behavior was perfect. She completed her homework on time, she did well on all her assignments, and she didn't threaten any teachers or students. Even her little technology faults weren't too major after that first day. 

Chiaka, or anyone she asked, had never seen her go out at night. Yet her teachers reported that she was often tired and distracted. When asked, Shadra parroted some excuse about how she had been visiting her mother or studying late into the night. A couple had even said that she turned up with cuts and bruises on the flesh the uniform revealed. And what about under the uniform? 

She was going to have a very serious chat with her. And if Shadra wasn't willing to reveal her secrets, then Chiaka wasn't above using some underhanded tricks. 

If that wasn't enough to worry about, Kiana was back. With her earlier absence, she had hoped the girl had quit school. The gods just weren't on her side. 

Kiana was draining to be around. Teachers complained about how tired they were just from trying to keep up with the energetic girl. She was also rude, tardy, loud, obnoxious and with a complete disregard for personal space. Kiana had nearly been expelled four times for touching a teacher. 

Oh whatever, she was tired of thinking about school. She felt like she was one of the boarding students. Actually, the students spent less time at school than she did! And they lived there! 

She pushed all the papers to the side, and stood up. Monday was a whole new day, a far away day, and perfect for finishing up her work. She grabbed and pulled on her coat. 

While she was grabbing for her keys, the phone rang. Sighing, she picket it up. 

"Moshimoshi?" Chiaka said. "Tokujin Boarding School, Guidance Counselor Misonimi speaking. How may I help you?" 

"Moshimoshi," the voice said. "This is Dr. Dorugon of Saint Heart Hospital. I have a message for Shadra Bellona."

* * *

A long blade swished over Shadra's head as she scrambled away, on her hands and feet like an animal. Laughter. That _thing> was __laughing_ at her! 

She looked back, and the figure she saw drained her of any color and chilled her very bones. Death. 

She ran, breathing hard and dodging the grave markers. Death had finally caught up to her. It wanted every soul it harvested to stay in hell. No exceptions even if you were what supported the world from its destruction. 

Death walked after her clumsy form. It did not need to go any faster. It would keep on coming and coming, with its scythe clutched in its bony hand. 

It closed in on her, its weapon raised for a killing slash. Out of mere instinct, she kicked him with both feet, balancing on her hands. 

It tumbled backwards. _Death… tumbled… backwards._ Death couldn't be hurt by any physical blow. What was going on? 

As much as she'd like to muse over the situation, there was one instinct she couldn't ignore. Fighting now, philosophy later. 

She stood up, stepping back into proper form. She didn't say anything, not even a pun. There wasn't any need, even if she couldn't have of one.

* * *

Bakura stalked through the streets. Idiot kid. What right did he have to demand money from him? What special power did he have that made him think he could overcome Bakura? 

Friends. Big burly friends. Ones that Bakura could probably manage but if they cornered Ryou… It wasn't going to be in the Hikari's favour. 

But like hell was he going to give into that little brat's demands! There must be something… He smirked. Why didn't he think of it before? 

Tala was going to live out his little fairy tales.

* * *

Shadra stood proudly against the masked figure. Sure, she had defence gashes covering her arms and probably more bruises than she could count, but 'Death' had its own share of wounds. 

She jumped up onto a tombstone, standing proudly. "Had enough?" 

The masked figure, panting a few yards away, scowled. Or that's what Shadra imagined the expression to be. One couldn't really tell because of the mask. "You have no respect for the deceased," it spat out. 

"What do they care?" Shadra responded. She put her hands on her tilted hips. "They're dead." 

The masked figure muttered and cursed at her. Shadra just smirked. 

"Do they really care if we wash their tombstones, groom their graves and leave fruit to rot away?" She jumped down from the stone. "They have no pain, no suffering, no worry. They lay their arms down, drop their shields, and they rest at last. The cries around them, of fear and pain, they don't hear at all. They don't care." 

"And you shall join them!" It lunged at her; its scythe slicing at her. Shadra merely ducked out of the way, not even bothering to put any effort into it. 

"I wish I could," Shadra whispered, her back to the masked figure. She could hear its heavy breathing; the rustle of grass as it moved its feet and cloak. She turned as it lunged again at her. It froze, the blade a mere two inches above her head. "But I'm already dead and still walking around." 

She shoved her hands out, her key shining in the darkness, and hurricane-strength wind swept around her, rushing to her prey. The masked figure flew backwards with the power, hitting and breaking the stone grave markers as he went. He struck the temple's stone wall, giant cracks forming from the epicentre, and crumpled over. 

Shadra laughed. Why should she be afraid of Death? She left through the red Torii.

* * *

Bakura waited in the alley. He checked his watch to find it was close to dawn. He growled. That bloody Tala better show up before the sun rose. The show would be so much more effective in the night's darkness. 

It was quiet, the club having shut down several hours before, which he was thankful for. He would hear anyone coming. 

Crunch, crunch. Speak of the devil. 

Bakura turned to face the redhead, and a few of his gimp-faced friends. More of them came up behind him, trapping him, or so they thought. But the white-haired spirit wasn't worried. Soon enough, they'd all be running back, crying, to their mommies. 

Tala looked mildly surprised that Bakura was already there. But like any criminal worth their salt, he shook it off quickly. "You have the money?" 

Bakura grinned. "I'm not going to pay you." 

"You have a death wish?" 

Bakura laughed. It didn't sound at all pleasant. "I've faced death before, but I'm still around." 

"Is that so…" Tala trailed off. "Well, now I'm really curious to see what'll happen." He gestured at his thugs. They started advancing. 

Bakura, unconcerned, drew a card from his pocket. Holding it up, so Tala couldn't see what its face told, he said, "This card decides your fate. If it's in your favour, I'll let you go. But if it's in my favour…" 

Tala scoffed, obviously not believing that he could be defeated. Too bad for him. 

Bakura turned the card, his Millennium Ring glowing. "Earl of Demise!" 

The blue skinned humanoid monster appeared before him, whipping out its rapier. The thugs, too busy with the sudden appearance, didn't notice the alley growing even more shadows. They cowered away from the monster. 

"Are you men?" Tala spat out, obviously disgusted with his troupes. "Attack it!" 

The 'men' growled like dogs and leaped at it, even the ones from behind the spirit. Bakura dodged their thundering approach, and leaned against the side of the building. He smirked. No instructions were necessary. 

The Earl, grinning it's sadistic grin, slashed the approaching thugs straight through the torso. The first few shrieked in surprise before falling to dust. The others, trying to learn from their predecessors' mistakes, pulled out daggers in an attempt to block the rapier. But the Earl was a master swordsman in life, and invincible in death. With two thousand life points, the poor bastards didn't have a chance. 

Bakura frowned at the dust. That had never happened before. But then again, he never used the Earl of Demise before on humans. It must be a special ability. Well whatever it was, it meant less body removal, which meant less work. That was something he could be happy about. 

Bakura glanced around the dustier alley as the Earl and the Shadow Realm faded and the morning sun fell upon the up most fringe of the alley. He could handle Tala himself. Where was he? He snarled. The coward had run away while he was busy with his little servants. 

Then he smirked. Next time, Tala wouldn't be so ready to try to boss him around.

* * *

Shadra met up with Kiana a block from the school. She noticed with annoyance that while she was limping from exhaustion, Kiana was still able to walk with a bounce in her step. 

"So what have you been up to?" Kiana asked, her voice too peppy for Shadra's liking. 

Shadra looked at her, and sighed. Like she would even believe her. 

Yarou and Kido met up with them a few seconds later. She felt a bit more cheerful, since they looked as exhausted as she felt. When Kiana asked them about their night, Yarou glared at her and Kido looked very happy. Shadra noticed that his shirt was inside out. 

The group drudged along, picking up Jake. He moaned and rubbed his head, complaining of a hangover. Yarou sent him a look promising a stern lecture in ten hours time, while Kiana immediately scolded him for drinking. 

As they were about to cross the street to Tokujin's block, they meet up with a rather disoriented Ryou. Figuring he had done drugs or got drunk, Kiana turned her scolding towards him (Kido didn't notice). Yarou glared at the white-haired boy, shuddering at the thought of all the work he'd have to do. Talking and scolding, possibly filing a report with the Guidance Counsellor. Exhausting.   
  
They had to climb over the front gate, seeing as how all students should be inside. Normally, Shadra could scale the fence in one good jump. Unfortunately, she couldn't do that in front of other students (even if she could try to pass it off as hallucinations) and she was too tired to make it anyway. But, together, they all managed to climb over the stone fence that ran around the school. 

"Hey, are we allowed to be out this late?" Shadra asked, as the light of day fell lower and lower to the ground. She hadn't read the rules in the agenda, nor could her brain properly function enough to remember them even if she had. 

"YOU ARE CERTAINLY NOT!" 

Chiaka the Guidance Counsellor, in her infinite fury, stomped up to them. Menoda walked briskly at her heel. 

"Kiana, Shadra, I should have known you'd do this! Curfew is at midnight! You should know better, Kiana! And you." She turned upon Shadra, who was startled out of her sleepy dazed state. "After all the trouble you've caused at your old school, I would think you'd try not to get expelled! But here I find you, coming in at dawn after spending the night doing God knows what!" 

"Uh…" Shadra grunted, taken aback. 

"I work sixteen hours a day! I just wanted a free weekend, but no, you have to be out partying so I have to wait up all night to tell you your mother's dead! Learn some consideration! Learn some responsibility!" 

"My mother's… dead?" 

This small question effectively stopped Chiaka in her tracks. All eyes were on the black-haired girl, who suddenly seemed weak and fragile. Her eyes were cast downward, her shoulders slumped. She shivered as a swift morning breeze swept around them. 

Shadra fell unconscious, the night taking its toll. 

_To be continued..._


	6. Unwarranted Vengeance

Battle of the Masters: Ancient Shadows  
Chapter Six: Unwarranted Vengeance

**by Shadou-sama**

_The creature lay still on a bed, paralysed. It wasn't time yet. _

It could see, even without open eyes, Ryou, Chiaka and the healer standing over it. The others had left, promising gifts of breakfast when they returned. Chiaka seemed happier, her flame turning warm instead of the raging inferno it was before. 

Ryou had just returned from a drug test. They were concerned for his daze and lack of memory. The creature inwardly smirked. It knew why this boy sometimes acted so strange. It knew why he had no memory. For in his meek little body burned two flames, one stronger than the other. Delicious, the creature thought. A delicacy. 

"She's suffered from exhaustion, stress and blood lost," the healer said. "She has numerous cuts all over her body, both new and old." She held up Shadra's bloody shirt. "It looks like she was shot, but I couldn't find any corresponding wounds on her stomach. I'd say she was in a pretty bad fight, a few of them." 

If only they knew what its precious kitten did. Its little pet had been shot, but healed herself. Well, the little kitten had been falling unconscious from pain, and the creature had healed her. It couldn't let its pet die, now could it. 

"Hmm…" the Guidance Counsellor said. 

The creature scowled, but didn't let it reach the surface. Chiaka was forming ideas, dangerous ideas. Something would have to be done about the nosy little human. But it had to wait until later. Curse the sun! 

"So she'll be okay?" Ryou asked. 

Aww… Darling little Ryou cared about its pet. 

"With a little time and rest, she should heal just fine." 

H-ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. It was hilarious how the healer could be so right, yet be so utterly clueless.

* * *

Ryou opened the door to Shadra's room. It had been hours since the girl had first fainted, and it didn't look like she'd wake anytime soon. So Ryou, being the nice boy that he was, came to feed her cat. 

Posters immediately assaulted his eyes. They covered most of the walls. After adjusting to motley of colour, he noticed a certain black-haired girl in a few of them. After closing the door, he examined them closer. 

She's famous, Ryou thought as he looked at the largest poster on the wall. It featured five boys and herself, surrounding a big silver trophy. Then he remembered the team. They were the Bladebreakers, who played beyblade. 

Pulling himself away, he called, "Balla." 

Nobody answered. 

/Well of course not, she's a cat. Above answering or talking. / 

Ryou's eyes widened, betraying his shock at his Yami's words. He'd thought Bakura hated the cat. But wait, cats were sacred in his darkness' time. 

/Then I guess she can't tell me where her food is. / 

/Try the closet, fool. / 

Ryou did, sighing over the name. And he though his Yami was getting better. 

He gasped. Black clothes, with a lot of leather, hung from the pole. A string of crosses had been hung on the back of the door. Laying on the bottom sat various weapons. 

/Yami… / 

He looked at a silver sword. He could see dried crimson blood on the blade, in patches like it was hastily cleaned off. 

A few papers that had shifted when the door was opened, teetered on the edge. Should he look at them? Would he like what he saw? He was saved an answer by the small stack falling off the edge and floating down to the floor. They fanned away randomly. 

His breath caught in his throat. Sketches… Had she… Had she drawn these? 

/Hikari, leave now. / 

Ryou obeyed, forgetting all about feeding the cat. Back in his own room, he flopped onto the bed. That was… blood. Real blood. Human blood. Shadra… 

/Don't ever talk to her again, / his Yami ordered. 

Ryou whole-heartedly agreed.

* * *

Balla lay crouching under the bed, her unnaturally red eyes watching as someone, Ryou she thought, came into the room and looked into Shadra's closet. The Time Master wasn't going to be pleased at that, not at all. 

But the thing that worried her was that she sensed the evil creature from their first night at the school. It was like it… clung to Ryou. Shadra would need to be informed. Where was she, anyway? 

Wherever she was, she was in a world of trouble because she broke curfew. That was unacceptable.

* * *

The masked figure -- supposedly Death -- sulked. How long had it been since he'd ever let a demon live? Not since his sister died. 

He sighed. His sister… the one for whom he had taken up all this for. Revenge… Sacred duty… The one and the same. 

This city needed a hero. And since his sister couldn't be, he would.

* * *

"So what do we have here?" Officer Makono asked, as he and his partner walked up to the crime scene, a small carrier plane. 

One of the airport's security guards was ready to answer. "Murder." 

Officer Makono sighed. He was getting way too many of these assignments for his liking. 

"What happened?" Officer Katara asked, taking out her small notepad and a pen. 

"This plane as landed at 1:03 PM, arriving from Cairo, Egypt. The pilot logged in, and said he was going back to check on the cargo. That's the last message we got. Two hours later, we decided to check and found him." 

Officer Makono looked inside. "Somebody did a real number on him." 

"Yeah," Officer Katara agreed, after looking at the body. "Multiple cuts, bruises, and it looks like his neck was broken." 

"When's CSI getting here?" Officer Makono asked. 

"Right here." Immediately, the group of people went on to investigate the crime scene. 

It looked like they would have an international murderer on their hands.

* * *

Aiko grumbled as she headed for the nurse's office. A migraine throbbed in her temple. And she knew just who had given it to her. 

Earlier, she had been studying in the library. Her eyelids were drooping, she had been studying so long. An empty traveller's mug sat next to the pile of books she had been reading. 

"Jeez, Aiko, still studying? It's not that big of a test." Aiko looked up to see a girl with long blue hair, Michiko, and her group standing beside her. 

Maybe for her, Aiko thought. Michiko always came out number one, whether it was in class, in athletics, or in beauty. And she never had to try. Aiko was sick of it. Just once, she would like to see her name in the number one spot on the tests results. 

"I like to be prepared," Aiko answered, her words clipped. 

"Aw, loosen up," Michiko said, as her followers agreed. "Come help us with the bake sale for the Humane Society." 

"No thanks," Aiko said. Now she was making Aiko look like she didn't care about the poor puppies and kitties. 

"Well, okay," Michiko said. "Don't study too hard." 

Aiko growled as another stroke of pain emitted from her temple. She opened the door to the nurse's room. "I should be top spot. I work for it, I suffer for it…" She walked in. "I wish she's just disappear."

* * *

_Granted._

* * *

Malik walked along the streets of Tokyo. The sun had long since set. Many people had warned him to not to go through any dark alleys, but he had scoffed. He had all the protection he needed stuck through his belt. What mortals could stand up to that? 

He could hear his Yami laughing in the background of his mind. Unlike popular belief, Marik had not disappeared into the Shadow Realm. Well, okay, most of him did. But there was still a bit left in Malik's mind, enough to survive. But also too little to take over his body. 

/What's so funny? / Malik asked. 

/Rod… haha… / 

Okay, so the criminally part had been banished, which left the insane part to annoy him with. Though, he supposed, it could be worse. 

He climbed up a building, via the fire escape. It wasn't very tall compared to a lot of Tokyo buildings, but it was still six or seven stories high and was one of the taller buildings in the neighbourhood. It would give him a nice bird's eye view. 

What he didn't count on was two of the surrounding buildings being a story taller than it. So, he could only see half the landscape. 

"HELP!" somebody screamed. A female somebody possibly, but in Malik's experience, many guys could scream as high as a woman. A shriek followed. 

He ran over to the where he believed the shriek had come from, and looked down over the side of the building. A taller building stood opposite, creating a small alleyway. 

A girl, still in her school uniform, ran and crawled down the alleyway. Her long blue hair snaked behind her. At first, Malik couldn't see her attacker. Perhaps a mugger or a rapist had decided she had attracted too much attention. 

But then a black-haired girl in the same uniform, except with a silver key, glided out of the shadows. He couldn't see her face from this height, but the blue-haired girl shrieked in terror. 

"P-please… I didn't—I didn't mean it! It was bad of me… cruel even—I take it back! F-forgive me…" the blue-haired girl begged. 

Perhaps it was time for some divine intervention. He reached back for his Millennium Rod. 

The predator's head snapped up, looking at him. Malik gasped. He knew the expression on her face, he knew it well. His Yami had the same look at the Battle City Finals. Her eyes… they were all black no whites. Even Marik hadn't looked so creepy. What the… what the hell? 

"You shouldn't interrupt my little Chaton," a low voice said. Malik turned around as a male figure jumped down from the next roof over. "When she's having fun, it's best not to be seen." 

"Who are you?" Malik demanded, holding his Rod in front of him. He felt the interest of his Yami. 

The stranger's eyes narrowed as he looked at the Rod. "Tala," he answered, not even looking at Malik's face. 

"Is that supposed to mean something?" 

Tala smirked, looking into Malik's eyes. Ice blue… "It will." 

Malik noticed the key on the chain sticking out of Tala's pocket. It looked similar to that… girl's, if you could call her that. Except copper, instead of silver, and red opals instead of black. He wondered if he was the same as that girl. It didn't matter, he had Shadow Magic on his side. 

"Perhaps a game to get better acquainted," Malik suggested. 

/Yes, a game. And then we'll see how tough he is in the Shadow Realm. / 

"Sorry," Tala said, off-handedly. "I don't play games." 

"Oh, but this one will be fun." 

"How about we make things interesting. A wager?" 

There was always a wager when you played with Malik. But he nodded anyway. 

"If I win, then you tell me about those gold items," Tala said. 

Items? So, another Millennium Holder was around here. He guessed that he wouldn't have to continue to Domino for some fun. "Fine. But if I win, you tell me what's wrong with that girl." 

"What isn't wrong with her? But agreed." 

Malik smirked. He'd find out what was going on, and he'd get to send the poor fool to his death. He unsheathed the dagger from his Rod, and stuck the rest of it back in his belt. "The rules are easy, so even you should be able to remember them. You see this grid?" Malik motioned the cement stones on which they were standing. Eighteen squares long, by seventeen squares. "That is our game board. We'll both start in the middle, and take turns spinning the dagger. Whichever way the blade points, the other has to walk three squares. No diagonals." 

"And how do you win?" Tala asked. 

"Not be the one who walks over the side." 

"Then how will we fulfil our bets?" 

"Explain before you drop," Malik said, deadpanned. Really, that had been fairly obvious. 

/Let me play, Hikari. / 

Malik conceded, letting his Yami take over. It didn't matter to him, because either way there was going to be a nice Tala-shaped splat on the ground. 

Tala's eyes widened. It was almost like he saw the change, Malik observed. Impossible. Marik, assuming that it was just a sign of fear, smirked. 

"Let's begin," he said, in his deep voice. He chuckled as he made his way to the center. 

"What's so funny?" Tala asked, as he too walked to the center of the roof. 

"The sound you'll make when you hit the cement." 

"I suppose it would be similar to yours," Tala said, not giving in to fear. "But we'll never find out what sound I make." 

Marik smirked. The mortal fool had confidence, misplaced as it was. If Marik were him—he'd still win. But the little boy should know he was going to die. 

The two faced each, only a meter away from each other. Violet eyes looked into blue eyes. Tala faced north, with Marik facing south. 

"My turn," Marik said. He held it between his two hands, just below the orb, and set the dagger's point on the ground. He snapped one hand forward, and the other one back, sending the dagger into a wobbling spin. It fell, it's blade pointing to the East, where Malik had spotted the psycho girl. 

"Three squares," Marik said, smirking. 

Tala, after sending the Egyptian boy a glare, grabbed the dagger and walked to his new spot. He imitated Marik's spinning technique, but this time the blade fell to the South. 

"Three squares," Tala mocked. 

"Hmph," Marik said and went to his new place. 

Tala threw him the dagger. Marik's catch faltered, and the blade slipped to cut his pinkie finger. Tala smirked, his eyes flashing dangerously. But Marik merely grinned, and licked the blood off. The redhead's eyes narrowed. 

Marik, ignoring him, picked up the dagger from where it had fallen. He spun it. If it landed East again, he'd only be one spin away from winning. 

Tala tensed. He knew how close he was to the edge. But hopefully, he'd be able to get Marik there first. 

North. Grinning, Tala walked to his new square. Marik scowled, before tossing him the dagger. The redhead caught it easily. 

South. Tala smiled as he passed the dagger die back. Marik was only two spins from losing. 

West. East. North. North. West. North. South. Neither was close to losing. East. 

Marik was now one spin away from the edge, and he knew it. He scowled, growling at Tala who looked very smug from his square. But no little brat was going to beat him with his own Rod. 

"Magic of the Shadows, I beseech you," Marik muttered. 

"Hurry up and spin," Tala said. "Don't draw out your death out any longer." 

Marik narrowed his eyes. The ego on this little mortal. It infuriated him. Worse was the fact that Tala had every right to be confident. 

/Yami… / 

/Be quiet! I need to concentrate. / 

He spun, tapping into Shadow Magic to aid his spin. West. 

"Where's your confidence now?" Marik asked as Tala grimly took his new square. If Tala didn't spin Marik off the edge, he'd be in line. 

Tala spun the dagger. It seemed an excruciatingly long time. It started wobbling. It had better come through. It started falling… 

"Any last words?" Tala asked. 

"South." 

"Eh?" Tala looked confused. Then he looked down. The dagger had stopped, pointing south. 

Laughing, Marik took his new place. He wasn't out of harm's way, but he knew that he could spin Tala off before this turn. And he was right. "West." 

Tala, without saying a word, walked on. He stepped up onto the ledge, and turned to face Marik, pulling the key and it's chain out of his pocket. He broke out into a big smirk, much to Marik's and Malik's surprise. "She's a demon," he said and laughed. It sounded like that of a mental patient, which both of the Maliks knew very well. 

Tala crossed his arms against his chest, the key hanging on its chain down the center. He fell back, still grinning. 

Marik sheathed his dagger back into his Rod, and rushed over to the West edge. He wanted to see him go splat. But… no corpse was there. Not even a little blood. The street was empty. 

Angry, and a little confused, over Tala's disappearance, he strode back to the East side. The two girls from earlier had also gone. 

/At least you won, / Malik offered, trying to soothe his Yami before he did something that would bring the Pharaoh to Tokyo. 

_To be continued..._


	7. Cement Coffin

Author's Note: Aloha! Yes, I'm actually doing an author's note. They're kind of fun, now that I think about it. However, I solemnly do swear never to write one longer than three hundred words (almost a tenth of my usual chapter length).  
I really am sorry about the long wait on the updates. I just kind of get… lazy, I suppose the term would be. Even though I've just finished writing Chapter 10. Over the Winter Holidays, I'll get everything all caught up and write some new chapters.  
Man, this is a really weird chapter. But is pinnacle to the story (or at least that's my reasoning for it, though that's what I say for every chapter). Most of the weird stuff, well, they're hints to the mysteries, I guess I could say. Like their strange responses to the apartment complex and the large amount of mail. Oh, and I even did an allusion (it's in the chapter title). Anyone who guesses where it comes from gets a cyber cookie!  
I almost forget! This chapter's big not only to the story but to my word count! 100,000 words, here I come! (196 words -- kept my vow!).

* * *

**Battle of the Masters: Ancient Shadows  
Chapter Seven: Cement Coffin**

by Shadou-sama 

"Hey, Shadra!" Kiana called, running up behind her in their floor's corridor.

Shadra, barely acknowledging her, kept walking in her black kimono. The final burial had been that day, a week and two days since her mother had died. Shadra had been the only one there, besides the Buddhist priest.

"Guess what Chiaka-san announced today?" Kiana asked. Shadra had skipped class for the funeral. Other students hadn't been allowed, even if they had wanted to -- which Shadra doubted, since Final Exams were coming up quickly. "It'll be worth it, I promise."

"I don't know," Shadra said.

"Well come on then," Kiana said, dragging Shadra up a number of stairs. She had lost count after six sets.

Shadra gritted her teeth. Wearing the wooden sandals had been getting painful, but she had dealt with it. But running up god knows how many flights of stairs! Her feet were going to have major blisters.

Finally, it was over and they had climbed as high as they could go. Shadra noticed there weren't any dorm rooms, like the rest of the school wing.

"It used to be for storage," Kiana explained. "But Chiaka-san decided to renovate part of it for us students."

She opened the door nearest the stairwell, and stepped in, motioning Shadra to do the same. She complied, realising the sooner she looked at this surprise, the sooner she'd get to go to bed. It was nearly eleven o'clock.

"It's a room," Shadra said, her voice deadpan.

"Now really," Kiana said, exasperated. "Look."

The room was fairly large. In the middle a few couches stood proudly, with Jake, Kido and Yarou watching late night anime on a big screen TV. A couple of pinball machines sat in another corner, with Menoda playing furiously. Ryou was there too, sitting at one of the round tables lining the wall drinking a can of iced green tea. The two girls were beside a rally of vending machines of varying kinds: sodas, chips, chocolate bars… toothpaste? Huh. Everything a growing teenager needed.

"Chiaka-san was going to unveil it after exams, but since Michiko's disappearance…" Kiana trailed off, uneasy.

Shadra only half listened, for she had discovered the window lined opposite wall. A long balcony stretched along the side of the building, something that she had never noticed before. She opened the sliding door and walked outside, the tails of her obi floating behind her.

"What a nice view," Shadra said, looking around. They were higher than any other building neighbouring them. "But…"

"But what?" Kiana asked.

"That building," Shadra said, motioning with her hand. "It's blocking the moon."

Kiana tilted her head to the side as she looked at it. "Hey yeah, you're right."

"It's an eyesore," Yarou said, as the boys filtered onto the balcony behind the two girls.

"Horrible," Jake said. "Monstrosity."

"It ruins such a perfect view," Kido commented.

"They should tear it down," Bakura added, his voice and demeanour colder than usual.

"Jeez, you guys. Dark much? It's called progress," Menoda said, sneaking in front of the girls. "Besides, if you tear it down, where will the people who live there go?"

Shadra shrugged. "I guess."

"And now breaking news with Tachioda Menichi," the TV said from inside the lounge.

They turned their attention back to the large screen.

"What? They're interrupting Inu-Yasha?" Kido whined. He flopped over the couch. Shadra shook her head.

"Change the channel," Menoda suggested. More darkness piled on to this oh-so-lively group? No way.

Jake reached for the remote.

"Police have just discovered the body of Asioka Michiko, student of Tokujin Boarding School."

"Wait!" Kiana shouted, startling Jake so much he dropped the remote control onto the carpeted floor.

"The girl who had been reported missing over a week ago."

It switched from the shot of the reporter to a shot of policemen removing horribly mangled body from a riverbed. Shadra gasped. She remembered those wounds, her death. She had dreamed them. She had dreamed that she had done it… Oh no… Oh God no… she was the murderer!

"Shadra, are you okay?" Ryou asked.

She nodded her head, not daring to speak. She exited through the door.

The newsman continued, "The murder has been linked to the death of forty-two year old Juinatum Alore, a pilot delivering cargo from Egypt."

* * *

Shadra walked along the deserted streets, her eyes downcast. The clacking of her wooden sandals against cement was the only thing that could be heard. With Tokyo's recent murder wave, no one wanted to be outside at night. 

Well, almost no one. She heard a shriek of laughter, which she ignored. But as she walked down the street, the laughter and happy voices came nearer.

"Oh Deek," a high pitched girl shrilled. If Shadra had looked up, she would've seen a gorgeous blonde in skimpy red clothes.

"Come on, what do you want, baby? The whole city's ours, just name anything," a male voice said.

"Everyone's afraid of us, the Powder Smurf Gang," another boy said.

"Mmmmm…" the girl said, her index finger to her lip. "I want her," she said, pointing to the girl in the black kimono.

"Her? Kare, I had no idea," Deek said, swinging the girl into his arms.

Kare just smiled.

"Fine by me," Deek said, then motioned the two other boys.

They nodded and complied, grabbing the black-haired girl by the arms. She looked calmly at the two, then at Deek and Kare, like she hadn't even noticed them there.

Deek thought that this kimono girl might've put up a fight, but she didn't even tremble in fright. She looked at the two of him and his girlfriend, as if they didn't matter. Like sure, maybe they wanted to rape her bloody, but she could stop them -- easy. It infuriated Deek. Not even good enough for her to try and fight.

"Listen here, girl," he growled, pulling out his switchblade. "I'm the leader of the Powder Smurfs, the most bad ass gang in all of Tokyo. So you might want to start trembling, because when I'm—"

"Deek," Kare whined.

"We're," he corrected, "through with you…"

"Can't even come up with the rest, can you," a voice said from behind. Deek wheeled around. A redhead guy in black leaned against a building, puffing away at his cigarette.

"Who the hell are you?" Deek demanded.

"I suggest you let go of my girl," the redhead said, ignoring Deek's question.

"Your girl? I don't see your name on her," he smirked, before turning to his gang. "Do you?"

The guy on her left smirked, and looked up and down her neck. "Nope."

The other one got the idea and decided to play along. His hand stretched out to pull the neck of the kimono down. "Maybe it's—"

The lackey never got to finish as his turned into flames. He shrieked, pulling away and trying to put out the fire but it was too late. He fell into ashes. The redhead had thrown his cigarette butt at the guy, and he had gone up in flames!

But that wasn't all. The other lackey, before he could even gasp, felt the warm flames licking at his clothes. He cried out, letting go of the girl too.

In the middle, the black kimono girl just stood there looking calmly at them. Her eyes never flickered, even when the ashes of the former bodies blew into her face, caught by some imaginary wind.

The redhead took out another cigarette, and lit it without a lighter.

Deek freaked. Grabbing his girlfriend by the wrist, he got the hell out of there.

"Idiot gangs," Tala said. He grabbed Shadra and put his arms around her waist, careful not to touch her with the cigarette. She didn't protest, but she didn't look at him either. She was once again looking down.

"Why didn't you use your Magick?" Tala asked. She didn't answer. He looked down and realised she wasn't wearing her key. "You need to carry your key. There's predators out here." He smirked. "Like me."

Shadra looked up at him, into his eyes. They were… They weren't like they were, when she had told him that she'd never betray her team. They weren't like they were when she had been dancing with her friends. They weren't even like they were when she killed, black and cold. They were just… empty. Like her depression was too great to even care.

Tala manoeuvred to her side, still holding her with one arm, and led her down the street.

* * *

Shadra's mind started to awaken, but she refused to open her eyes. Instead, she stretched her limbs out, her lips moving numbly. Something was odd… She moved her left leg further out, but it didn't hit the wall. Her eyebrows furrowed. That wasn't right. 

She reluctantly opened one eye, and last night came rushing back to her. She was in Tala's room. Did she…

She opened her other eye and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her neck muscles ached in protest. She scanned the floor. Her kimono and obi were gone. No wait, they were folded neatly on a chair, with the ribbon she had used to tie up her hair on top. Her sandals and under garments were also there.

She did.

She fell back and immediately regretted it. Her neck and shoulders protested sending sharp little needles to her senses. For several moments, her mind was frozen. She felt empty again, like when she had left Tokujin. Tala had cured her of that. Wait, where was Tala?

She slipped out of bed and pulled on her black kimono. She frowned as she noticed the wrinkles. Apparently it had been on the floor all night. She didn't bother with the obi, since for some reason it was now two pieces.

She crept out of the bedroom. Why she crept, she didn't know. His apartment was pretty big, she thought, which surprised her. Somehow she always thought he lived in a, well, a dump.

As she drew to closer to the end of the hall, where she could see the dining room and living room, she heard someone humming and a sizzling. As quiet as she could, she peaked her head around the corner.

Tala was standing before the oven, shirtless. It looked like he didn't care about the splattering of boiling grease against his bare skin. A long gash, several in fact that made it look like a mountain lion got at him, stretched from his shoulder to waist. Wow, she had never noticed how interesting tea towels were…

He moved the food in the frying pan around. From the smell, she guessed it would be bacon. And Tala was humming. If only Tyson and the others could see him now.

"Morning," Tala said, not even bothering to look around.

She shook her head. Her approach may have been soundless, but the snickering hadn't been. "Morning," she said, stepping fully into the kitchenette.

"Regrets?" Tala asked, in an off handed way, like he couldn't care less what she felt now.

She didn't answer him, but instead asked a question. "What are you doing?"

"Making breakfast," he replied. "Some of us need to eat, you know."

Shadra frowned at the comment. Sure, she had been eating less, but that didn't mean she didn't need it.

She was about to comment when she noticed the huge stacks of letters sitting on the man's dining room table. The only place that wasn't buried was a small clearing by the chair at the head of the table, presumably because he ate there. Every single one looked unopened.

She picked up a handful. China, Russia, France, Spain, Canada. It seemed that there were post marks from every single country in the world.

"What are you doing?" Tala asked, turning around. "Don't touch those!"

"Or what?" Shadra asked, coyly. She continued looking through them, wondering what was inside. But then she giggled, as she realised what it all was.

Fan mail.

"Aww, Tala-wala," Shadra said. "You have wittle admirers."

"So what?" Tala snapped as he grabbed the envelops from Shadra's hands. He slammed them back on the table.

"Jeez, sorry," Shadra said, putting her hands up in defence. Which let her kimono billow out a little. Shadra ignored it, because, well, it was a little late for modesty.

"Hn," Tala grunted, and turned back to his frying pan.

Shadra sighed. He was just like Kai. They were both girl magnets, ignored their fans, and thought 'hn' was the greatest answer in the world. Except Tala was a bit more twisted. Unless she counted when Kai had been enveloped in Black Dranzer's power. Then they might have been close to dead even.

But what was so special about the letters? Kai never got into such a tit whenever anyone touched his fan mail. Perhaps Tala was just modest—Ku, no way. When had Tala ever been modest?

* * *

Ryou lay back down in bed. From what his clock said, he had plenty of time before school started. 

/Yami? / Ryou asked.

He heard a few groggy sounds at the back of his mind. Also a, /Mrrrrr. /

/Yami? / Ryou asked again, gently prodding his other half mentally.

/Mrrr. What? / Bakura snapped.

/What was that about? /

/You woke me up, fool. /

/No, not that. About the moon, and the building blocking it. /

/What about it? / Bakura snapped.

/You just seemed kind of upset. /

/Stupid mortals, setting up their stupid high rises and ruining grr… /

/Uh, Yami? /

/What? / Bakura snapped again.

/Why does it upset you? /

Ryou heard his Yami sigh. /For years, back in Ancient Egypt, I worked under the moon. It was always there, giving me the challenge of light, or guiding me to the exit of a tomb. /

/Yami, you're not-- /

/Still fesecrating tombs? None around. / Ryou could almost feel the bitterness.

/So you want to go and steal the treasures of the dead? /

Bakura gave him a mental look. /Everything's different, Ryou. There's no sand, there's no tradition, there's no faith. Everything works by silicon and plastic… /

/Oh… I think I understand. /

Bakura liked the moon because it's the only thing he had left that was the same. Over five thousand years later, everything had changed. Cars instead of horses, computers instead of scrolls, graves instead of tombs. And meat was now served cooked, not raw.

Ryou had never really considered that technology bothered his Yami. He was rather well adjusted, considering he had once confided that the last time he had control of a body had been over five hundred years ago.

In fact, all the Yamis were well adjusted. Even Pharaoh Yami, who had been trapped in a gold box for the past five millennia. As for Yami Malik (and Malik, if one really thought about it), he'd spent most of his existence living in underground Egypt. It was kind of weird. Shouldn't they have spent a lot of time screaming and running from demons AKA cars?

/Maybe we could sneak up to the top of that apartment building to look at the moon, / Ryou offered. /If it's blocking it here, then the view from there must be twice as good. /

Bakura didn't answer. Ryou was half-afraid his Yami thought it was stupid idea, and half-afraid that he'd heard Ryou's last thought before his suggestion.

/Sure, Hikari, sure. /

* * *

Malik lounged on a bench in some unknown park. He listened to the far off laughter of winos, the frenzied stuttering of drug addicts, and the small chit-chat and rustling clothes of the homeless. He'd been sure to choose a park bench far enough away from the slugs, and he'd been quick to threaten anyone who came near. 

He'd have to get his own place soon.

That might prove to be the most difficult task yet, as he had no money. He only had the clothes on his back and his Millennium Rod.

If he called Isis… No. In that he was firm. He wouldn't go running back to his sister.

After all, she was the reason he was back in Japan in the first place. It wasn't because she hadn't forgiven him. She had, and Rishid had as well. It had been like they were a family.

They had obtained a modest apartment, only two bedrooms. Rishid and Malik shared, and it worked out just fine. Rishid had been hired for a part-time job and Isis still worked for the museum. All Malik had to do was attend school, maybe help out with the housework, like any normal teenager. Better than a normal teenager, he shad his motorcycle. His Yami had still been hidden deep within his mind. Life had been great.

But one night, Malik woke up sometime before midnight. He had tried to fall back asleep, but all he accomplished was to twist his blanket all around him with his constant twisting and turning. His mouth was parched, so he decided to get some water in hopes that that was the cause of his insomnia. He had an exam the next morning; he needed to get some sleep.

He looked over at the other bed. The covers were still neat and tidy on the mattress. He sneezed. Someone must be talking about him, he thought as he rubbed his nose. He crept into the hall, because Isis might still be asleep and wouldn't appreciate being woken up.

There wasn't any need. Isis' voice floated out of the kitchen.

"… and they said they knew that Malik had been the one to break in. They're not going to charge him, but they fired me. They said it would be a breach of security if I continued to curate there."

He heard Rishid's comforting his sister. "There must be something else that you can do—"

"No! There isn't. I'm a tomb keeper, I have no other skills."

"Don't worry. We'll figure something out."

"We have no savings, and unfortunately your pay check won't support three people. We don't even have any collateral for a loan, except…"

"Master Malik's bike."

Isis didn't respond for a moment. Without a comment from Rishid, Malik assumed she was nodding. "Technically, we don't even exist. Father didn't even get us birth certificates. It was hard enough to get my last job without one. It'd be murder this time…"

So, that was it. His life wasn't perfect. They were broke.

Malik had made the decision then and there to leave. He was the reason his sister had lost her job, and he was only another mouth to feed. Isis and Rishid had both forbade him from getting an after school job, saying that school was more important. If he knew his sister, she'd still be singing that tune even if they were dead broke.

So, he had snuck out that night, leaving a note telling them to sell his motorcycle and he grabbed his Millennium Rod. For a while after that, he wandered the streets of Cairo. Isis and Rishid had tried to find him, even filed a missing person's report, but Malik had been too good of a hider.

Except that he used the Rod to get his meals. They had heard of the strange occurrences of chiefs and housewives throwing away perfectly good food for no reason, and had tracked him down. Almost.

When Isis and Rishid were breathing down his neck, he decided he needed to leave Cairo, leave Egypt. Maybe go back to Japan. He hopped on board a cargo plane bound there, and stowed away.

That was when he had heard his Yami for the first time since the Battle City finals. And Malik welcomed it. He'd never be alone.

He lazily pushed himself up into a standing position. Time to see about maybe finding an apartment.

* * *

Shadra walked back to school as slowly as she could. Who cared about finals? They meant nothing. 

Tala had lent her some clothes to get back in, since she couldn't very well wear a kimono with no obi. She had giggled when he had presented her a pair of orange slacks. Despite his new fondness of black, he still wouldn't give up his goofy looking orange.

Her eyes flickered to the display window of the Sinsin Occult Shop as she walked by. She shook her head.

"I'm no hero."

* * *

Bakura fiddled with his dagger, lounging in the new common room long after night had fallen. The place was empty, except for himself. Everyone else was studying like madmen. 

He never really understood this cult called school. No one really liked it, they even complained about it every chance they got, yet they still gathered every day. Well, almost every day. Only the weekends were free. This was part of the strangeness. Cults usually only gathered together on religious holidays for their little rituals. Yet… maybe everyday was a holiday for these people. Then what was winter break?

Ryou had once explained to him that he went to school to learn things. Bah, he had scoffed. He could teach Ryou more in a day than these 'teachers' could in a month! And it would be useful things, not like those square root things that Ryou insisted on muttering annoyingly so that Bakura had put up a shield around his landlord so he couldn't hear Ryou's thoughts.

His landlord had asked then what Bakura would teach him. To steal things, Bakura answered. He had got richer thieving than he would have had he done things the hard way, or what Ryou called the 'honest' way.

Bakura had felt the nervousness of his other. He grinned at the thought. Ryou had had to decide whether to outright disagree and risk his wrath, or agree and risk Bakura actually teaching him those things. To his amazement, his landlord had found another approach.

But you can do it so much better than I ever could, Ryou had said. And I wouldn't want to ruin your fun. So I'll just stick to the boring, hard way of earning money.

He kicked up his feet to rest on a nearby table. Tonight was so… so… boring. He intentionally allowed the dagger to slip and cut his arm. Nowhere near the wrist, mind you, he had to live in this body.

Crimson blood blossomed from the wound. He casually licked it off.

"Bakura?" a voice asked. The blade clattered onto the floor.

"What?" he snapped, turning around, still holding his injured arm. He smelled fear.

"Wha--what the hell are you doing?" Shadra demanded, striding up to him.

Bakura was taken aback a moment. Just a moment ago, she was full of hesitation, fear of those who hurt themselves, like all those mortal fools. Now she was demanding that he, who probably in her delusional mind was close to offing his own life, answer her with total disregard. "What does it matter to you?" he snarled, standing up. Being taller than her, he could look down at her menacingly.

But she didn't back down. "Why wouldn't it matter?" she demanded. "You can't hurt yourself!"

"Would you do it for me?"

That simple question had an interesting affect on her. She stopped, eyes wide, frozen in the tracks like a rabbit in the headlights of an oncoming car. Then she stuttered non-sense half words, ending with a rather loud, "No!"

She tried to calm down, her expression betraying her purpose to him. And he thought this night was boring.

"How can you think that?" she asked.

"How can I not?" he countered.

It dawned on her. She betrayed her emotions too easily for her own good, he thought.

"The sketches… in my closet, the ones you found?"

Bakura didn't reply, just merely watched her.

She laughed, leaning her forehead on her hand. "The ones that Kumino drew? The ones that I hide away so I don't have to look at them because they disturb me?"

Bakura waited a moment, before answering. In a soft voice, he asked, "If they disturb you so much, why do you still have them?"

"'Cause, well uh, 'cause he wanted me to keep them. Farewell gift and all. We've had our differences, but he's a good friend and all…"

She was babbling now.

"Just," he interrupted, in a low and dangerous voice "stay away from my—me."

"What?"

"Stay away—"

"No, what's he doing!" She pointed behind him to the large windows.

He didn't turn around right away, not until Shadra started dashing to the balcony. Then he followed, and immediately saw what she was looking at. Thankfully, he hadn't taken too long to turn, otherwise he would have missed it.

A man, on a balcony near the top, had climbed over the safety fence. He dropped swiftly out of sight. A few moments later, the sounds of sirens arose. Not that an ambulance could do anything now except clean up splattered entrails.

"Maybe this view isn't so bad…"

* * *

Marik stood in the doorframe leading to the hallway, staring absently at the once occupied balcony. Now that man could never walk it again. Malik, in his wispy spirit form, explored their new apartment. 

_To be continued..._


End file.
